People
Mon May 06 2013 18:14:17 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
The parking lot has three features especially targeted to women.
First of all: size. The width of each parking space is around 3.2-3.3 meters. “It’s wide enough that even when the doors of two neighboring cars are all fully open, they won’t come up against each other”, says Mr. Wu, a Tiancheng Enterprise Group manager in charge of the parking lot’s design who only wanted to give his last name. As a result, only around 50 cars can be accommodated in the parking lot, which spreads over 1,600 square meters. Ordinary parking lots of a similar size could house around 100 cars, though with parking spaces of no more than 2.5 meters wide.
Secondly: catchy designs. The lot is painted in pink and purple, and is equipped with numerous lights, including three in front of each parking space, so as to create a “cozy and safe environment for woman drivers.” Mr. Wu says this ensures that even late at night, women drivers don’t have to worry about their safety, “as every corner of the parking lot are well-covered by around 20 surveillance cameras.” Besides, two of the four walls in the parking lot are decorated with paintings of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, so that a driver no longer has to remember the specific number of her parking space: To locate her car she just has to remember the specific pattern or colors of her parking space. As for the other two walls, they are decorated with light boxes of either parking signs or ads.
And thirdly: dancing parking assistants. Six women guides will be deployed throughout the lot to help women drivers park, combining their guidance with fancy dance moves involving mainly the upper body, Mr. Wu said. He said the assistants have all received special training in South Korea.