1.1 Definition and scope of the study

Private parking lots are used for non-commercial use of parking space for motor vehicles. Paid parking lots may be considered "public" if they are regulated by municipalities. Private parking lots are often large, multi-story paved buildings and can be used for short-term parking or long-term storage of vehicles.

in 2018, Europe counted just under 500 million parking spaces, less than 15 million of which were private. It is estimated that there are more than 400,000 private parking spaces in Italy. There is great interest in the future of Italian parking lots. Domestic and foreign investors are looking closely at a profitable business that is set to grow in volume (thanks to the pedestrianization of historic centers and the creation of bike lanes).

Italy faces a shortage of parking spaces, with off-street parking availability accounting for only 2.3 percent of the total. Meanwhile, Italy has one of the highest rates of new car registration (+19.5 percent in 2018).

Four foreign companies dominate the Italian parking market, followed by a sleeve of smaller companies and individual parking facilities.

APCOA Parking, a German group, has 83,000 parking spaces in Italy (140 parking lots)
Saba, a Spanish subsidiary, has 21,000 spaces
The Austrian Breitneider family, which heads Best in Parking, has 12.500 parking spaces (exclusively in the south of the peninsula)
Interparking, a Belgian investment fund, has 10,000 parking spaces
One Italian company rounds out the top 5, Arpinge (part of the Arpinge Group) has more than 7,000 parking spaces nationwide.

Municipal on-street parking spaces account for more than 60 percent of the parking spaces in Italy. The remaining 40 percent is divided between free public parking, commercial parking, informal parking, and private parking.

It is estimated that an average private parking space in Italy (in a parking lot) costs 18,000 euros to build from scratch (varies depending on location, excavation site, municipal/regional regulations). Technical and maintenance expenses raise this cost to 20,000 euros. The national average hourly rate is calculated at 1.30 euros.

The two trends that make this a potentially successful market are the increasing pedestrianization of urban centers and the continuing high rate of car buying in Italy.

1.2 The global private parking market

The global parking market is growing in line with global urbanization and the increasing number of vehicles on the road. In fact, the global private parking market is showing continued growth and is expected to remain so in the coming years. The parking market is expected to reach $*** billion in ****, up ...

1.3 The Italian private parking market

The Italian private parking market is based on the country's high rate of motorization and the growing demand for parking in historic centers. The graph shows the number of normalized transactions (***) has increased in the last year. The trend is also borne out by the change in buying and selling of ...

1.4 Covid Impact

The Covid-** pandemic and the resulting restrictions had a profound impact on the lifestyle of the Italian population. During the first lockdown, mobility in the country was drastically reduced, leading to severe consequences for the parking market.

To understand the effect of this period in Italy, it may be useful to ...

2.1 Overview of demand

According to a survey by Istat, parking difficulty is one of the biggest problems that households experience in their daily lives, almost on a par with the risk of crime. In a highly motorized country like Italy (***), the demand for parking spaces grows in step with the increase in vehicle ownership ...

2.2 Determinants of demand

the parking market is closely linked to the country's mobility. The graph below shows the penetration of cars in Italy. As can be seen, the evolution of multi-car ownership has increased in recent years, from **** thousand in **** to **** thousand in ****.

Car ownership

Ownership of durable goods, one or more cars Italy, ...

2.3 A seasonal demand

the graph below represents the proportion of searches for a given term in a given region over a given period of time, compared to when it was most searched (***). Thus, a value of ** means that the keyword was used less often in the region concerned, and a value of * means that ...

2.4 Mobility in Italy

The Italian mobility rate has changed significantly over the past decade. Since ****, it has experienced steady growth to **.* percent in **** mainly for alternative mobility reasons-for example, in addition to work or school. In particular, occasional mobility has increased considerably. Despite the steady increase in the mobility of Italians, some large cities ...

3.1 Market structure and parking value chain

The diagram below proposes a summary of the operations of the value chain of the private parking market.

3.2 Main market players

The private parking market is largely dominated by foreign companies, which through major investments have managed to obtain (***) a total of ***.* thousand parking spaces in the country. The chart below shows the main players in the market, in terms of real estate holdings.

Most of these companies then rely on companies ...

3.3 APCOA, a European leader in parking concessions

APCOA Parking is a Stuttgart-based group that is the leading parking management company in Europe. It manages nearly *.* million parking spaces in ** European countries, employing more than *,*** people. Its position as a market leader suggests the importance of its role in the market and to deepen its strategy and the innovation ...

3.4 The mid-size operators

Firenze Parcheggi S.P.A.

FIRENZE PARCHEGGI S.P.A. holds ** parking lots in Florence: it offers the widest choice of car and motorcycle parking in Florence. The company had a turnover of ** million euros in ****. For more than ** years, the company has operated an extensive network of paid parking lots ...

4.1 Overview of the offer

We can distinguish the supply of parking lots according to their different structure and according to their type or function.

Structure

Surface parking lots

Surface parking lots are parking lots on the same level, usually bounded by a fence, barriers, etc. This type of parking can be off-street or on-street. The ...

4.2 The companies in the industry

Companies responsible for managing parking lots and garages are identified by ATECO code **.**.** by Istat.

The chart below reproduces the breakdown of companies active in this sector by legal form. In fact, **** such firms are found in Italy, of which ** percent, or **** are established as individual entrepreneur, freelancers and self-employed workers. ...

4.3 Costs and prices

Costs

The cost of building a parking garage is particularly high. In fact, over the past decade, even public works has had to rely on private resources, through concessions, to build almost all of the parking lots in the structure.

The construction cost alone of a medium-sized underground parking lot (***). The ...

4.4 Industry innovation: EasyPark

EasyPark is the leading application in Italy and Europe for what concerns paid parking on blue lines.

In fact, the company has developed a platform through which the entire parking payment process is digitized, offering the customer a smart and fast solution to an everyday problem such as paying for blue ...

5.1 Regulations

The focus of the law on the parking issue today is mainly on the issue of their circulation and, therefore, the increased commercial attractiveness and investment incentive in the market for parking areas. Next we find the main parking regulations.

The Tognoli Law introduced "A second type of private parking (***).

In ...