Raja Bazaar's Pedestrian Street Conversion Worsens Rawalpindi's Parking Crisis

Converting Raja Bazaar from Fawara Chowk to Hamilton Road into a pedestrian-only street has made parking a major problem in Rawalpindi's main commercial hub, while the Punjab government has yet to approve construction of another parking plaza, according to Dawn, published 10 August 2026. The existing Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) parking plaza can accommodate only 1,000 vehicles, including motorcycles — far short of demand.

The Scale of the Shortfall

A 2022 RDA study found more than 60,000 vehicles ply the roads around Fawara Chowk daily, requiring parking arrangements for at least 1,200 vehicles. Roadside spaces currently accommodate only 200. RDA had planned to add three more floors to its existing parking plaza during the PTI government but failed to execute the project — those additional floors remain on paper, with a senior RDA official confirming no approval has yet been given for the expansion, which would add capacity for more than 2,500 vehicles.

The Stalled Rs3 Billion Plan

A Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) official told Dawn the authority commissioned Nespak to prepare a feasibility study, completed last year and submitted to the Punjab government — but still awaiting approval. The plan calls for a five-storey parking plaza, including a basement, on RMC's old office land on Jinnah Road (City Saddar Road), at a cost of Rs3 billion. The ground floor would house shops, with four floors and the basement reserved for parking — an estimated 4,200 motorcycles and 1,500 cars at a time. The site itself has a complicated history: RMC's 145-year-old building was demolished there in 2016, after the land had earlier been taken over by the Punjab Revenue Board, which tried and failed to sell it before it was returned to RMC following the 2016 local government reshuffle.

Not an Isolated Problem in Rawalpindi

The Raja Bazaar shortfall isn't unique. On the same day Dawn reported this story, it also reported that traders in Saddar — Rawalpindi Cantonment's main commercial hub — are demanding the federal government halt approval of new commercial plazas until adequate parking is guaranteed, after Bank Road's conversion into a pedestrian zone left just 700 vehicle spaces to serve the entire market. Dawn's own earlier coverage shows this has been a recurring planning gap: a 2025 report on parking plazas planned in Raja Bazaar, Commercial Market, and Jinnah Park shows the parking shortfall was flagged well before the pedestrian conversion was completed, while a separate 2025 report tracked the start of work turning Rawalpindi's Commercial Market into a car-free zone — suggesting the pattern across Rawalpindi's beautification projects has been building pedestrian zones ahead of the parking infrastructure meant to support them.

What Traders and Visitors Are Saying

Shopkeeper Saleem Ahmed, who works near Bara Market, told Dawn he now parks his motorcycle in a private lot near Gawalmandi because RDA's plaza charges hourly rates he considers too expensive for regular use. Moti Bazaar visitor Mohammad Nasir said finding a spot in the parking plaza wastes time and that its charges are "beyond the reach of the common man." Rawalpindi Traders Association President Sharjeel Mir argued the government should have built a parking plaza before launching the beautification and pedestrianisation work, adding that rising inflation combined with the parking shortage has directly hurt business at Raja Bazaar.

What This Means for Commercial Property in Rawalpindi

Investors and shopkeepers evaluating commercial space in Rawalpindi's older bazaars should factor parking access into any location decision, given how directly it's now affecting footfall and rents in areas like Raja Bazaar and Saddar. For broader context on how Rawalpindi's civic and development authorities are regulating commercial and residential property in 2026, see milkiyat.com's overview of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and its jurisdiction, and milkiyat.com's guide to the Rawalpindi Ring Road's commercial corridor, which is shifting commercial demand toward newer, parking-friendly developments outside the old city core.

---

Sources

1. Dawn — "Conversion of Raja Bazaar into pedestrian street worsens parking crisis", 10 Aug 2026: https://www.dawn.com/news/2021840/conversion-of-raja-bazaar-into-pedestrian-street-worsens-parking-crisis
2. Dawn — "Traders want federal govt to make parking space mandatory for commercial plaza construction in Rawalpindi", 8 Aug 2026: https://www.dawn.com/news/2021321/traders-want-federal-govt-to-make-parking-space-mandatory-for-commercial-plaza-construction-in-rawalpindi
3. Dawn — "Parking plazas planned in Raja Bazaar, Commercial Market, Jinnah Park": https://www.dawn.com/news/2017115/parking-plazas-planned-in-raja-bazaar-commercial-market-jinnah-park