Cost–benefit analysis of town centre car parks

This paper studies the profitability of building a leisure area combined with an underground car park. The particular case studied shows the doubt surrounding the profitability of the work due to the high construction costs of the car park and the uncertainty surrounding the area's future usage. A cost–benefit analysis is therefore performed considering four alternative projects: a car park of one or two floors built using sheet piling and a car park of one or two floors built using concrete screens. Applying the corresponding sensitivity analysis shows that, depending on the tariff charged, one building method may be more profitable than another.