parking area

Diagram of example parking lot layout with angle parking as seen from above A parking lot in Manhattan, New York City, in 2010, with its capacity increased through multiple level stacked parking using mechanical lifts A subterranean parking lot of a Brazilian shopping mall taken in 2016 Car park with drop arm in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Parking lot outside of a shopping mall in Collégien, France, demonstrating the design of prioritizing spaces for cars over spaces for people Motorcycle parking lot in Surakarta, Indonesia A parking lot (North American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdictions where cars are the dominant mode of transportation, parking lots are a major feature of cities and suburban areas. Shopping malls, sports stadiums, and other similar venues often have immense parking lots. (See also: multistorey car park)

Parking lots tend to be sources of water pollution because of their extensive impervious surfaces, and because most have limited or no facilities to control runoff. Many areas today also require minimum landscaping in parking lots to provide shade and to help mitigate the extent of which their paved surfaces contribute to heat islands. Many municipalities require a minimum numbers of parking spaces for buildings such as stores (by floor area) and apartment complexes (by number of bedrooms). In the United States, each state's department of transportation requires a fraction of lot spaces to be reserved for people holding a disabled parking permit. Modern parking lots use various technologies to enable motorists to pay parking fees, help them find unoccupied spaces and retrieve their vehicles, and improve their parking experiences.