1. Introduction
2. Vision & Core Beliefs
3. Critique of the Current Situation
4. Call to Action
5. Parklets, Streateries, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
6. Principles for the creation and management of Parklet and Streatery programs
7. Audience for this Manifesto
8. Manifesto Contributors
9. References
October, 25th 2024
The International
Parklet Manifesto
What is a parklet?
A parklet is a public space situated in the roadway along the curbside. Typically, these spaces offer a place for people to sit, relax, and engage with the urban environment. Parklets often include built-in seating, tables, plantings, bike racks, and sometimes art installations, transforming areas usually designated for car storage into human-friendly, social spaces. Parklets share some characteristics with other curbside uses but are distinct from those primarily oriented toward commerce. Commercial outdoor dining structures in the curb lane are known by a number of names, including patios, streateries, terrazas, dining sheds, déhors, and more. These spaces tend to provide private or semi-private outdoor dining areas for restaurants, bars, and cafés, often including seating, shade, lighting, and weather protection for extended outdoor use.
For the purposes of this manifesto, we will use the term parklet to describe the public space type and streatery to describe the commercially focused type of what are known as flexible curb-lane uses. Both parklets and streateries are installations that fit within and adapt to existing street and curb configurations and can remain in place for months or even years at a time.
Key Features of Parklets - Curbside Public Spaces
- Repurposing of space used for cars: Parklets are created by converting spaces in the road along the curb—usually car storage spots—into pedestrian access areas.
- Publicly accessible: Operated or funded by both public entities (municipalities, NGO’s social service organizations) and private entities (e.g., businesses or community groups), parklets are open for public use.
- Temporary or semi-permanent: Parklets can be seasonal or set up for longer periods but are usually designed to be removable.
- Amenities: Parklets often include moveable seating or fixed benches, greenery, shade, lighting, or bike parking, providing a mini urban oasis for pedestrians.
Key Features of a Streateries– Commercial Curbside
Dining Spaces
- Repurposing of space used for cars: Streateries transform curbside parking spaces and/or adjacent sidewalk spaces into private or semi-private outdoor dining areas.
- Commercially exclusive: Unlike parklets, streateries are typically reserved for paying customers of the establishment that operates them.
- Temporary or seasonal: Streateries are often regulated by city permits and are designed to be removable.
- Amenities: These include tables, chairs, planters, lighting, and sometimes weather protection, offering an extended dining experience in the right-of-way.
Historical Context
The evolution from Park(ing) Day to the parklet movement highlights a shift in urban design towards reclaiming public space for people. Park(ing) Day began in 2005 in San Francisco as a creative, grassroots event where artists and activists temporarily transformed metered parking spaces into public parks. This was a collective gesture of critique towards the dominance of cars in city design; a playful form of advocacy for more green spaces. This spontaneous act of urban activism inspired the formalization of the concept into parklets. The City and County of San Francisco recognized the potential of these small public spaces and in 2010 launched the Pavement to Parks program, institutionalizing parklets as a government initiative. In promoting community engagement, sustainability, and enhanced urban livability, the City government has played a crucial role by continually evolving a framework for parklets and other interventions that turn parking spaces into pedestrian-friendly areas. The success of San Francisco’s parklet program paved the way for similar initiatives in cities around the world, demonstrating how small interventions can lead to lasting urban transformation.
Vision & Core Beliefs
Historically, streets in cities served as multifunctional spaces for transportation, public life and commerce, where pedestrians, vendors, and social activities mingled with various forms of transportation. Streets were dynamic places that facilitated community interaction, markets, and civic activities. Constructed sidewalks first became common in the mid- Nineteenth Century, creating a firm, safe, clean space for walking and standing in the street as traffic increased (Loukaitou-Sideris and Ehrenfeucht 2009). However, in the age of the automobile, particularly in the early 20th century, streets gradually evolved to prioritize individual mobility in private automobiles over prior uses. According to historian Peter Norton in his book ‘Fighting Traffic’ (Norton, 2008), this shift was driven by a concerted effort from auto industry advocates who reshaped the purpose of streets as primarily for cars. At this time, the concept of "jaywalking" was introduced to delegitimize pedestrian use of streets. Urban planning and design increasingly focused on moving vehicles efficiently. Streets became more hostile to pedestrians and public life at the expense of community interaction and commerce.
Tactical Urbanism (Lydon and Garcia, 2015) originated as a grassroots approach to urban design; leveraging short-term, low-cost, and temporary interventions to catalyze long-term, strategic change in streets and public spaces. The movement accelerated in the early 2000s as cities and communities sought creative ways to reclaim urban spaces for people by testing new ideas for improving livability without the need for large, long-term investments. Parklets are part of a global movement that empowers communities to experiment with reclaiming streets for social interaction, walking, and cycling, ultimately orienting long-term policy and design changes towards more sustainable, people-centered cities. In response to urban demands for adaptable spaces—particularly after the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic—current priorities emphasize the development of healthy public spaces for walking, cycling, and social interaction (Campisi et al., 2022).
While Parklets and Streateries were originally conceived as temporary uses that would lead to more long-term strategic change in the role and function of streets, they have evolved to become their own discrete public space types.
Critique of the Current Situation
Auto-dependence, and the streetscapes resulting from it, have significant social and environmental impacts. Socially, car-centric infrastructure reduces walkability, isolates communities, and diminishes public life by limiting spaces for pedestrians, cyclists, and social interaction. This can exacerbate inequalities in access to transportation, and contribute to sedentary lifestyles and related health issues. Environmentally, widespread car dependence leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and urban sprawl; contributing to climate change, degraded air quality, and loss of natural habitats. Additionally, the scale of infrastructure required for cars, such as highways and parking lots, consume vast amounts of land, further reducing green spaces and increasing heat islands in cities. This model of urban design fosters unsustainable growth, both socially and ecologically.
With over 1.4 billion vehicles worldwide (United States Energy Information Administration, 2021), studies suggest there are typically 2 to 3 parking spaces per vehicle, amounting to roughly 2.8 to 4.2 billion parking spaces in total. Of these, approximately 30-50% are thought to be on-street, leading to an estimate of 840 million to 2.1 billion on-street parking spaces globally (Littman, 2022).
This figure is influenced by regional differences in urban density, planning policies, and car usage trends, with denser cities typically offering fewer on-street spaces compared to suburban and rural areas.
Parklets and Streateries offer a creative, localized solution to the challenges of auto dependence and car-dominated streets by reclaiming small areas of public space for pedestrians, promoting social interaction, and improving urban walkability. They introduce greenery, seating, and public amenities into previously vehicle-dominated areas, helping to reduce the environmental impact of cars by encouraging alternative forms of mobility, like walking and cycling. Parklets can also enhance neighborhood vitality and provide much-needed spaces for social life in cities designed around automobiles. However, while they contribute to rebalancing the use of streets on a micro level, parklets are limited in their ability to address the broader, structural issues of global automobile dependence. Large-scale and long-range interventions - such as comprehensive public transit systems, zoning reforms, and urban planning policies that reduce car reliance -are necessary to fully address the environmental and social impacts of the car-centric paradigm.
Those who are in a position to create Parklets and Streateries —such as business owners, local governments, or design firms —often operate from a place of social privilege, as they typically have access to financial resources, political influence, and decision-making power that marginalized communities may lack. This dynamic can inadvertently result in parklet installations that primarily benefit wealthier, more visible neighborhoods that already have better spaces and services, reinforcing social inequities. It is essential, therefore, to ensure that the rebalancing of street uses addresses these inequities by prioritizing underserved communities in the design, placement, and access to parklets. Efforts must be made to engage diverse communities in the planning process, ensuring that parklets are inclusive, meet local needs, and contribute to broader goals of equitable urban development. By doing so, the parklet movement can become a tool for social justice, not just a beautification effort, creating public spaces that reflect and serve the entire community.
Ideas of public space are socially constructed and vary greatly by culture and context. Parklets and Patios may not be a culturally appropriate solution in some contexts. Consider the principles below in the call to action before replicating parklet and patio models from elsewhere.
Call to Action
We call upon cities and towns globally to establish a target of converting 1% of their existing on-street parking into Parklets and Streateries.
Donald Shoup, in his influential work ‘The High Cost of Free Parking’ (Shoup, 2005) advocates for several key reforms to improve the management of on-street car parking. He recommends charging market-rate prices for car parking based on demand to ensure availability and reduce the time drivers spend searching for spaces. Additionally, he suggests that cities reinvest car parking revenue back into the local neighborhoods to fund public improvements, such as better sidewalks and infrastructure. Shoup also calls for the elimination of car parking minimums in zoning codes, which often require excessive parking and inflate development costs. By aligning car parking prices with demand and removing regulatory barriers, Shoup's recommendations aim to reduce traffic congestion, pollution, and inefficient land use, while enhancing urban livability. Many of these measures have been piloted and then implemented in cities around the country, alongside parklet and other programs that expand the range of uses for streets.
Parklets, as an example of flexible curbside use, align well with Donald Shoup’s recommendations by repurposing on-street parking spaces to create more valuable public spaces. Converting parking space into parklets reduces the overall parking supply, supporting Shoup’s concept of dynamic pricing for the remaining spaces as demand increases. Additionally, the revenue generated from parking fees could be reinvested into creating and maintaining parklets and other local improvements, directly benefiting the neighborhoods where the spaces are located (Kindler, Jordan, and Wilberding, 2025). Policies and regulations that eliminate parking minimums while also expanding curb uses with programs like parklets would promote more sustainable, pedestrian-friendly urban environments, embodying Shoup’s vision for better land use and livability.
Converting 1% of the global on-street parking supply into parklets and streateries could have a significant impact on urban environments, public spaces, and the way cities manage mobility. Based on the earlier estimate of 840 million to 2.1 billion on-street parking spaces worldwide, converting 1% would mean repurposing 8.4 million to 21 million spaces, resulting in the following:
- Creation of Public Space: On average, a parking space occupies about 14.4 square meters. Converting 1% of global on-street parking would create approximately 120 million to 302 million square meters of new public space in the densest urban areas, where it is most needed. These spaces could be used for parklets, streateries (outdoor dining), or other community uses, transforming streets into more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly areas.
- More Nuanced Parking Management: Converting 1% of parking spaces could lead to a modest reduction in parking availability, potentially increasing the demand and value of the remaining spaces. This could work in concert with dynamic pricing more consistently for parking, leading to more efficient parking management, optimized city revenues, and reduced “cruising” for spots.
- Boost to Local Economies: Streateries and parklets strongly support local businesses by increasing foot traffic, creating outdoor dining spaces, and making commercial districts more attractive. Converting parking spaces to these uses has been shown in at least one study to provide an economic boost to local restaurants, cafes, and retail businesses, especially in areas where outdoor space is at a premium.
- Environmental and Livability Improvements: Reducing the number of parking spaces works in concert with other strategies to encourage alternative transportation methods, such as walking, biking, and public transit. This shift could lead to lower carbon emissions, less traffic congestion, and better air quality, while enhancing the overall livability of urban areas.
- Social and Community Benefits: The creation of parklets and streateries provides additional space for social interaction, outdoor activities, and community gatherings. These spaces enhance the sense of community and contribute to a higher quality of life in cities. In places where local communities have the opportunity to shape such spaces, they often foster a stronger sense of agency and ownership over the public realm.
Converting 1% of the global on-street parking supply into parklets and streateries could repurpose a vast amount of urban space, contributing to environmental sustainability, local economic growth, and improved community well-being. While the reduction in parking availability may increase demand and pricing for the remaining spaces, this shift aligns with broader goals of enhancing urban livability and promoting sustainable transportation options.
Parklet Cities
Cities and organizations that commit to converting just 1% of their on-street parking into parklets and streateries should be recognized as “Parklet Cities”—global leaders in the movement to reclaim urban space for people. This designation would symbolize a city's dedication to livability, sustainability, and equity by reallocating a small fraction of land previously reserved for vehicle storage into vibrant public spaces. A Parklet City is not just reshaping its streetscape—it’s reshaping civic values, investing in walkability, social connection, and economic resilience. By setting a clear and measurable benchmark, the 1% commitment becomes both a catalyst and a celebration of systemic change in how cities prioritize public life.Parklets, Streateries, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
How are parklet and streatery programs aligned with the UN SDGs?
Reclaiming Public Space: Parklets challenge the dominance of cars in cities by reclaiming street space for people. They expand pedestrian access in dense urban environments, enhance the human scale of streets, and increase the network of parks, plazas, and other open spaces.
- Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable
- Target 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces, particularly for women and children, older persons, and persons with disabilities
- Sustainable Development Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
- Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships, building on experience and resource strategies of partnerships
Promoting Walkability and Social Interaction: By providing areas for people to sit and gather, parklets help create more walkable, interactive, and lively urban environments. They offer opportunities for neighbors to connect and foster a community-oriented atmosphere.
- Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
- Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
Encouraging Sustainable Urban Design: Parklets contribute to more sustainable cities by reducing car dependency and promoting alternative uses for streets aligned with public health, urban greening, and environmental responsibility.
Supporting Local Businesses: Parklets and streateries often benefit nearby businesses by creating more pleasant streetscapes and offering outdoor seating for cafés and restaurants. This increases foot traffic and boosts the economic vitality of local businesses.
- Sustainable Development Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all
- Target 8.3: Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation
- Target 8.9: By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
Enhancing Aesthetics and Livability: Adding greenery, art, and seating to formerly underused street spaces improves the visual and social quality of the urban landscape, making the city more inviting and livable.
- Sustainable Development Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
- Target 3.6: By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
- Target 11.b: By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans for inclusion, resource efficiency, climate mitigation and adaptation, and resilience to disasters
Testing Innovative Urban Design Concepts: Parklets are often experimental spaces for testing pedestrianization, co-management models, and temporary public realm improvements before making permanent infrastructure changes.
Social and Community Benefits: The creation of parklets and streateries fosters social interaction, outdoor activities, and community gatherings. These spaces strengthen the sense of community and make cities more people-centered, improving overall quality of life.
- Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable
- Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated, and sustainable human settlement planning and management
- Target 11.4: Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage
- Target 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces, particularly for women and children, older persons, and persons with disabilities
Parklets are vital because they transform small urban spaces to support social interaction, walkability, and environmental sustainability while making cities more enjoyable and community-focused. A study conducted by the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) of Chicago in July and August 2014 surveyed over 100 users of "People Spots"—the city's term for parklets. The findings revealed that 93 percent of respondents felt the street's atmosphere had become more positive since the introduction of the People Spot.
Principles for the creation and management of Parklet and Streatery programs
To create or expand a parklet or streatery program in your community, consider the following principles:
1. Lower the barrier for potential parklet and streatery sponsors to create new spaces
- Streamline the internal permit process by coordinating among the multiple entities governing the street
- Create an easy-to-use, legible, public facing process for parklet and streatery applications.
- Provide simple and clear design guidelines that allow flexible adaptation to local contexts.
- Offer pre-approved design solutions that satisfy local safety and accessibility guidelines, reducing the need for individual project sponsors to develop potentially costly custom design and engineering solutions
- Support diverse community and cultural expression in the design creation, and programming of parklets and streateries
- Establish a framework for ensuring social and geographic equity the distribution of parklets and patios and in the access to the program.
2. Reduce the burdens and responsibilities for creation and management of parklet and patio spaces
- Establish a framework for collective action organizations (such as neighborhood associations, cultural districts, merchants associations, and business improvement districts) to provide for design, construction, maintenance and programming of parklets and streateries
- Governments should provide resources (technical advice and training, material loans and grants, funds, and fee waivers) to support local actors in advocating for and creating parklets.
3. Balance Public Life and Community, Ecological, Commercial, and Transportation uses in the curb lane
- As a result of the pandemic-era explosion of commercial outdoor dining, some neighborhoods experience a deficit of free, open to all seating options. Parklet and Streatery programs should attempt to balance the provision of publicly accessible and limited access seating options.
- Follow a community-driven approach, ensuring that local residents are actively involved. This includes maintaining cleanliness, regular upkeep, safety, and establishing a dedicated user group to oversee their use and care.
- Support a diverse array of programming in Parklets to address unmet community needs; for example by fostering collaborations with arts and culture organizations, community centres, social service and faith-based organizations.
- Enhance biodiversity with native and regionally adapted planting.
- Prioritize unobstructed pedestrian movement, cycling and public transit alongside parklets and streateries.
4. Provide a pathway for permanent streetscape improvements
- Parklets and Streateries have emerged as distinct public space types that can contribute to a community's public realm. These temporary or semi-permanent changes and additions to the streetscape should not be considered a substitute for more substantial streetscape improvements that would result in much more significant social and ecological benefits.
- Permanent sidewalk widening and permanent pedestrianization of entire streets enables much broader opportunities for addressing multiple policy goals. For example, improvements such as landscaping and tree planting expand the urban forest; enhancing biodiversity through native and regionally adapted plantings. Comprehensive design could better manage stormwater runoff using green infrastructure; and significantly expanding a neighborhoods public realm framework
Audience for this Manifesto
This manifesto is addressed to those who can advocate for, create, and implement parklet and streatery programs in cities and towns across the globe; including public space advocates, arts and cultural organizations, educational institutions, pedestrian and bicycle advocacy organizations, small business support groups, collective action organizations such as neighborhood associations, cultural districts, merchants associations, and business improvement districts and ultimately… local, regional and national governments focused on creating safer, greener and more equitable streets.
Manifesto Contributors
Primary Authors: John Bela and Robin Abad Ocubillo.
Contributing Authors: Luisa Bravo, Ilaria Salvadori, Ryan Smolar.
Peer Reviewers:
Juan Manuel Bueno Carvajal, PhD. Universitat Politècnica de València
Luciano dos Santos Diniz, Professor, Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais
Rui IZUMIYAMA, Professor, Nihon University. Co-Founder, Sotonoba
Danielle Labbé, Professor of urban planning, Université de Montréal
Quentin Stevens, Professor, RMIT University, Australia
Symposium Participants:
Temitope Muyiwa Adebara, Shaden Al Galaly, Montserrta Mendoza Anaya, Emilia Bruck, Andrea Bugli, Juan Manuel Bueno Carvajal, Adina Ciuchita, Joana Dabaj, Luciano Diniz, Maddalena Duse, Debra Efroymson, Jörg Finsterwalder, Olga Leticia Aguilar González, Lena Hohenkamp, Mervyn Horgan, Tanzia Islam, Rui Izumiyama, Sahjabin Kabir, Roland Krebs, Danielle Labbé, Manfredo Manfredini, Boopsie Maran, Edda Ostertag, Dhanya Rajagopal, Shruti Shankar, Ryan Smolar, Carolyn Sponza, Quentin Stevens, Brendan Stewart, Akitaka SUZUKI, Zala Velkavrh, Yang Yang
References
Campisi, T., et al. “The Evolution of Sustainable Mobility and Urban Space Planning: Exploring the Factors Contributing to the Regeneration of Car Parking in Living Spaces.” Transportation Research Procedia 60 (2021): 76–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2021.12.011
Kindler, Evan, Tony Jordan, and Jane Wilberding. Parking Benefit Districts: A Guide for Activists. Parking Reform Network. Accessed May 10, 2025. https://parkingreform.org/playbook/pbd/
Litman, Todd. Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis II – Parking Costs. Victoria Transport Policy Institute, 2022. https://www.vtpi.org/tca/tca0504.pdf
Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, and Renia Ehrenfeucht. Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation over Public Space. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009.
Lydon, Mike, and Anthony Garcia. Tactical Urbanism: Short-Term Action for Long-Term Change. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2015.
City of San Francisco Office of the Controller, Office of Economic Analysis. San Francisco Shared Spaces Program: Economic Impact Report. San Francisco: Office of the Controller, 2021.
Metropolitan Planning Council. “A ‘People Spot’ for All People.” Metropolitan Planning Council, September 10, 2014. https://archive.metroplanning.org/news/7019
Norton, Peter D. Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008.
Shoup, Donald. The High Cost of Free Parking. Chicago: Planners Press, American Planning Association, 2005.
United States Energy Information Administration. “EIA Projects Global Conventional Vehicle Fleet Will Peak in 2038.” Today in Energy, October 26, 2021. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=50096