13th EUROPEAN PARKING CONGRESS 2007
PARKING THE PAST DRIVING INTO THE FUTURE

After finishing the Lectures, Workshops and Debates of the 13th European Parking Association Congress held in Madrid, with the participation of a considerable number of businessmen of the parking field, managers and Professionals linked to the sector, municipal politicians and technicians from different administrations, representatives from automobile clubs, jurists, city-planners, building companies and experts in new technologies from 24 different countries, and having talked about everything from general and conceptual aspects to the practical aspects and applications implemented in various countries, that are postulated as Solutions, the Table of the Congress submits THE MADRID DECLARATION to the APPROVAL OF ITS MEMBERS, that is developed in five thematic groups and offered as a synthesis of the aspects discussed at this 13th European Parking Congress, organized by Asociaciön Espanola de Aparcamientos y Garajes (ASESGA) by appointment of the European Parking Association (EPA), in Madrid, in September 2007:

1 - CONCEPT
1.1 - The concept of a CARPARK has evolved in recent years and is no longer of secondary use to other activities such as residential, industrial, commercial or administrative activities, having become a regulär and frequent action that we carry out in our daily life. Furthermore, a PARKING has become part of the city as it has ceased to be strictly a private but rather a public concept that is integrated in the heterogeneous diversity of our cities.

1.2 - A PARKING building has become part of the machinery involved in a Temple of Mobility that already include stations, airports, bus stations, inter-modal and maritime stations already, and in which the passenger flow is constant, becoming large suppliers of Services and commercial equipment.

2 - BUILDINGS

2.1 - Depending on the geological variables of the area, the groundwater level, the number of floors, the surface determinants and the proximity of adjacent buildings, countless modelling processes are necessary. No two parkings are the same.

2.2 - Parkings constructed without columns using prefabricated concrete slabs, allow a customized design of parking place width, without compromising the future life of the parking.

2.3 - Well into the 21 st Century, carparks should not be built as until now, focusing on the size of the cars, but BUILT TO SIZE FOR PEOPLE, who are our customers, in order to guarantee the maximum level of satisfaction.

3-THE FIRNIS

3.1 - In recent years, small garages that have been the source and cradle of our Industry, have started to change based on Computer aided technique and control Systems, and they will have to continue and go intensify this transformation to turn them into modern Parkings, without forsaking the personality and charm they have always had.

3.2 - From the viewpoint of large public and private management companies, the approach shall be, not of Public Service but rather of Service to the public, with a clear preference for general interest, aimed at becoming leaders in the development of sustainable town planning in which urban mobility is enhanced and the main characteristic is adaptability, and if possible anticipating any regulation, environmental or other policy, which will be to the advantage of the Citizens in general.

4 - PARKING AND MOBILITY POLICIES

4.1 - The static idea of Parking and the dynamic idea of Mobility need not be contradictory, but rather complementary. We must balance these two concepts, that are apparently contrary although nevertheless closely associated in order for them to jointly have a leading role in solving the traffic problem in our cities.

4.2 - PARKINGS, "on and off the street", must gather the immobility of vehicies that modern society requires. This naturally voluntary immobilization of private vehicies will promote better general mobility and a better quality of life for all Citizens. This will be a collective product of a "MOBILITY that is FREELY CHOSEN" by every individual.

5 - ASSOCIATIONISM

5.1- Being associated makes us stronger as a sector in political and economical environments, at local, national and European level corresponding to every associative level. We must study in depth the use of this force that our association provides us with.

5.2- Associationism allows us to advance and is the basis of the Organization of Conferences, Seminars or Congresses in which people theorize on experiences and experiment with theories, which allows to take one more step with each of these meetings, in the knowledge of the individual and collective work of all of us who are part of the PARKING sector.

Therefore, the 13 Madrid Congress declares the coming of age of the parking business sector as a basic part of urban mobility in our cities, and emphasizes the prevailing role of CITIZENS as the focus and reason of its activity.

Madrid, 28 September 2007