"Parking is the single biggest land use in most cities," said Donald Shoup, a research professor at the University of California, Los Angeles' urban planning department, upon the release of his book, "Parking and the City" in 2018. "There’s more land devoted to parking than there is to housing or industry or commerce or offices."
Shoup is the preeminent guru of parking policy, and he has spent more than 40 years researching its economic, geographic and environmental consequences. His books and talks explore how parking reforms can make room for other modes of transportation and land uses, leading to greater affordability, walkability, and public health.
About Donald Shoup
Donald Shoup is Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA. His research has focused on parking, transportation, public finance, and land economics.
In his 2005 book, "The High Cost of Free Parking," Shoup recommended that cities should (1) charge fair market prices for on-street parking, (2) spend the revenue to benefit the metered areas, and (3) remove off-street parking requirements. In his 2018 edited book, "Parking and the City," Shoup and 45 other academic and practicing planners examined the results where cities have adopted these policies. The successful outcomes show this trio of reforms may be the simplest, cheapest, and fastest way to improve city life, protect the environment, and promote social justice.
Shoup is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and an Honorary Professor at the Beijing Transportation Research Center. He has received the American Planning Association’s National Excellence Award for a Planning Pioneer and the American Collegiate Schools of Planning’s Distinguished Educator Award.
About the Kinder Institute Forum
The Kinder Institute Forum lecture series brings thought leaders from around the world to Houston to share ideas about the most pressing urban issues facing us today. Previous KI Forum speakers have included Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond, global urbanist Richard Florida, Kresge Foundation senior fellow Carol Coletta, former Detroit city planner Maurice Cox, sociologist Eric Klinenberg and New York City Park Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver.
PNC Bank is the title sponsor of the 2021 Kinder Institute Forum series. This program is eligible for 1.25 CM credits from the American Planning Association.
