Mapo-gu 'Considerate Parking Space BPA' Patent Office Design Registration

Reserved Parking Spaces for Families with Young Children, Pregnant Women, and the Elderly with 0.3~0.5m Extra Width... 'BPA' Design Registered with the Patent Office, Plans to Expand Nationwide to Public Institutions... 11 Spaces Operated at Mapo-gu Mangwon Nadeulmok Public Parking Lot and Mapo Central Library

BPA design directly devised by Mapo-gu and registered with the Korean Intellectual Property Office

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Mapo-gu (Mayor Yudonggyun) recently announced that it has completed design registration with the Korean Intellectual Property Office for the ‘Considerate Parking Space BPA’ design, created to mark parking spaces exclusively for transportation-vulnerable individuals.

Since September last year, Mapo-gu has directly devised the Considerate Parking Space BPA design and applied it to parking spaces reserved for transportation-vulnerable people.

BPA stands for Broad Parking Area, meaning a wide parking lot, and its design symbolizes physical vulnerable groups such as ▲Baby caring person ▲Pregnant person ▲Aged person.

The purpose is to encourage more use by transportation-vulnerable individuals such as parents with young children, expectant mothers, and elderly people using canes or walking aids, by providing eye-catching parking space markings and designs, and to alleviate the inconvenience experienced when getting in and out of vehicles in narrow spaces.

The district is currently conducting a pilot operation of a total of 11 Considerate Parking Space BPA spots in public parking lots such as Mangwon Interchange, Mapo Central Library, and Mapo-gu Office.

The existing women-priority parking spaces were only considered as a courtesy for all women, which raised concerns about reverse discrimination or potentially becoming a trigger for crimes against women.

In response, the district devised the Considerate Parking Space BPA as parking spaces for all transportation-vulnerable individuals in need of consideration, regardless of gender. This policy innovation, born from applying new ideas to existing policies, led to the originality of its design and name being recognized through this design registration with the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

The biggest feature of the Considerate Parking Space BPA is its wider width compared to regular parking spaces. By securing an additional 0.3 to 0.5 meters of width compared to existing parking lots, the total width reaches 2.8 meters, allowing transportation-vulnerable individuals to get in and out of vehicles comfortably.

The parking spaces are located as close as possible to entrances and exits.

Also, the design color adopts light purple, symbolizing consideration for all transportation-vulnerable individuals without distinction based on conventional color codes such as blue for men and pink for women.

The district is also exploring plans to spread the BPA design usage rights to public institutions nationwide. Additionally, it plans to continuously expand this in public parking lots within the district frequently used by residents.

Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “We will expand the project so that residents who had difficulty moving due to narrow parking spaces can feel more comfortable in their outdoor activities by utilizing the Considerate Parking Space.”