Car Parking Matters to Small Retailers: An Historical Case Study of Three Town Centres in Marrickville

Abstract

Increasing the costs of car parking and in some cases removing it has become recommended practice for discouraging car use. To understand the perspective of the high street retail cluster who will be confronted with such changes, the paper reviews a time when another change in mobility and access led to car parking construction. A case study of local newspaper coverage between 1968-87 about car parks in the Marrickville Council area is analysed for themes, using a sociological framework of mobility. The paper concludes that while policies of the past may have prioritised economic needs the paradigm shift of sustainable decision making means that future policy implementation will be more complex. In town centres this requires more attention to be paid to the needs of those not engaged in the policy debate, but who are dependent upon the existing infrastructure of car parking. Small retail businesses are one such group.