PARKPARK – Build your own city

Parklets trace their origin back to a citizens’ movement seeking to counter this trend and hoping to reestablish the needs of the citizens as a factor in the design of the cityscape. Expanding walkways into parking zones helps not only to create a better quality of life in densely populated cities but also opens up potential uses that people never knew existed before. Parklets can therefore be a key element in modern city planning, helping to meet the constantly changing needs of the urban environment in a cost-effective manner and with very little effort.

Intuity has developed a modular parklet system in PARKPARK that fits effortlessly into any parking spot, can be assembled and dismantled quickly and is entirely customizable. The core element consists of wooden platforms the size of a parking space. No underground engineering is required and the platforms can be set up at the side of a road, in parking lots – and virtually anywhere else. Modules can be freely combined with one another on top of these basic elements for specific usages. Seating areas, green spaces, bicycle parking stands, EV charging stations, and lots more – all achievable within a very short space of time.

Even those urban nooks and crannies that seem hopelessly blocked can be significantly enhanced with PARKPARK. Street car tracks and high volumes of traffic use up every inch of the street, often drastically limiting the space left for pedestrians and cyclists. What follows are narrow pathways along main streets and intricate underpass systems. PARKPARK puts urban living space on a new footing. Bridges made from sustainable wood turn pathways into attractive viewing platforms that let clouds of exhaust fumes simply pass below them.

PARKPARK encourages sustainable mobility concepts. The flexible parklets allow mobility stations to be created on which a wide range of vehicles can be parked. This makes switching from one type of vehicle to another a great deal easier. Bicycles, for example, can be parked right alongside EV charging stations. Different mobility systems can be networked together via a unitary booking platform. This allows everyone to see at a glance which means of transportation are available at any given moment and to get to the transportation option they want with just a few clicks of the mouse.

PARKPARK facilitates the intelligent interim use of urban living space. It is people-focused, provides an opportunity for people to meet and interact, and improves a city’s mobile infrastructure.

In addition to carrying out research into flexible usage concepts for urban spaces, we also examined the possibilities presented by fully automated CAD/CAM production from wood. Most of the models are constructed in parametric form, allowing customized products to be manufactured at relatively low unit cost.

PARKPARK is a joint initiative by Intuity and transportation expert Martin Randelhoff.