1st City-Business Talk Webinar: Shimla City Showcases Smart Parking Success

The International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme hosted the First City-Business Talk webinar highlighting Shimla City’s innovative smart parking initiative as a practical example of how this Asian City uses digital solutions which can be transferred to cities growing urban mobility challenges. The session brought together municipal representatives, technology experts, and urban practitioners from India and Europe to exchange experiences on smart parking implementation and sustainable mobility solutions.

The webinar featured insights from Bhupendra Atri and Raphael, who presented the collaboration between Shimla Municipal Corporation and French technology company CocoaParks. The discussion focused on how Shimla, a hill city facing severe traffic congestion and limited parking availability due to increasing tourism, adopted a digital smart parking solution to improve urban mobility and visitor experience.

The smart parking system integrates AI-enabled parking cameras, occupancy sensors, LED display boards, CCTV surveillance, and mobile application support to provide real-time parking information to citizens and visitors. According to the speakers, the initiative has contributed to reducing congestion, streamlining parking management, and supporting emission reduction efforts in the city. The project, launched as a pilot in December 2023 and inaugurated in May 2025, is envisioned as the first step toward a city-wide scalable parking management system.

During the session, Raphael highlighted the importance of strong partnerships, local collaboration, and flexibility in implementing smart city technologies. He emphasized that successful urban innovation depends not only on technology but also on trust, stakeholder engagement, and long-term city vision.

The webinar also generated significant interest from participating cities including Leh, Jabalpur, and Chandigarh, which explored the potential for replicating similar smart parking solutions in their own urban contexts. Discussions covered lessons learned from Shimla’s implementation, including the importance of citizen awareness, interdepartmental coordination, gradual scaling, and integration with broader urban mobility systems.

The session marked the launch of a new IURC webinar series focused on addressing real urban challenges through collaboration between cities and solution providers. Participants also discussed the importance of interoperability between existing smart city infrastructure and new digital mobility solutions, as well as the role of innovation partnerships in supporting sustainable urban development.

Presentation materials, the webinar recording, and a fact sheet will be made available through the IURC Knowledge Library in the coming days.

The factsheet is now available Click Here