Why are we so obsessed with car parks?

Watch the latest episode of Who Broke My City on why parking politics is so toxic, how our cities became dependent on cars, and what it would take to make our streets work better for everyone.

For city councillors, parking can be a political minefield. Removing a handful of car parks can provoke public outrage, while proposals for cycleways, speed bumps and yellow lines can become bitter battles that drag on for years.

Why do we care so much about parking? And why is it so difficult to agree on how our streets should be used?

In the latest episode of Who Broke My City, Christchurch city councillor Nathaniel Herz Jardine and Wellington city councillor Sam O’Brien share war stories from the frontlines of parking politics, explore the historical origins of our car dependence, and consider why neither side of the parking debate has all the answers.

So, can we put an end to the parking wars? And can we make our cities less car-dependent without making life harder for the people who live in them?

Watch the full conversation below and subscribe to Public Interest for more discussions making sense of politics and power in Aotearoa.