Territories for constructing multi-level and underground parking lots have been designated in Tashkent, with a total capacity of 200,000 vehicles. These sites will gradually be offered at auction. Shavkat Umurzakov, the capital's mayor, informed the UzA publication about this in an interview.
He specified that this work is being carried out in cooperation with the National Committee for Urbanization and Sustainable Housing Market Development. The Mayor also acknowledged that some land initially intended for parking was subsequently occupied by facilities of another purpose.
Umurzakov stated that business centers were built on several plots allocated for parking. He emphasized that to prevent such mistakes in the future, he is conducting strict control over this issue together with relevant agencies.
In Umurzakov's opinion, the topic of parking infrastructure is one of three key areas for the development of trade and the service sector in the capital. These also include the modernization of markets and the creation of vibrant, 24-hour functioning streets.
As part of these plans, the authorities intend to attract private investors to reconstruct 35 state markets and trade complexes. One of the mandatory requirements for such investors is the construction of parking lots with corresponding capacity.
The Mayor noted the general principle connecting these three areas: the state creates the necessary conditions, the investor handles the construction, which leads to an improvement in the quality of services for residents, and public interest is maintained through strict discipline and established conditions.
Furthermore, Umurzakov mentioned that the need for parking solutions will be taken into account when implementing the '15-minute city' concept. When developing master plans for each district, the authorities plan to proactively calculate the required number of schools, kindergartens, polyclinics, green spaces, and parking lots based on population size. Construction permits will only be issued after this.
According to the mayor, the population of Tashkent exceeds 3.1 million people, and more than 1 million vehicles move through the city's roads daily. One goal of the '15-minute city' concept is to reduce traffic load by ensuring pedestrian or bicycle accessibility to essential services from residential areas.
History of the Issue: Multi-story Parking Lots
Plans to build parking lots of various heights—two-, three-, and six-story—on the site of former car garages were announced by the Tashkent mayor's office as early as Spring 2017, when preliminary sketches of such facilities were presented.
In Summer 2017, former mayor Rakhmonbek Usmanov agreed to the construction of multi-story parking lots, which were supposed to include trade and household service complexes on the first level.
A year earlier, in March 2016, there was information about intentions to build multi-level parking lots near the airport, the North Station, and in other locations. However, these plans were largely not implemented, and where multi-level parking lots were planned, other structures appeared, such as residential complexes and business centers.
In February 2023, a special state institution was established to be responsible for building multi-story parking lots and subsequently transferring them to entrepreneurs as ready businesses. It is planned that these multi-story parking lots will be put up for online auction with a starting price equal to 10% of the object's cost. According to the presidential decree, at the initial stage, it is planned to build at least four such parking lots in areas with high concentrations of vehicles. This figure corresponds to the one recently announced.
In 2024, Tashkent planned to construct no less than four seven-story parking lots, each designed for 729 spaces. The cost of parking spaces was to be determined taking into account vehicle emission levels.