Harare motorists will soon navigate a more modern parking experience as the capital begins rolling out a fully digital, self-service parking system in parts of the city centre starting December 1, 2025.
The development, announced by City Parking in a public notice yesterday, marks a major leap in the company’s ongoing digital transformation drive aimed at improving convenience and efficiency for urban commuters.
Under the new system, selected sections of Third Street and Park Street will transition to unmanned parking zones, eliminating the need for physical parking marshals. Motorists will instead be required to pay for parking exclusively through digital platforms. The affected areas include Third Street, between Jason Moyo Avenue and Robert Mugabe Road, as well as Park Street, between Jason Moyo Avenue and Samora Machel Avenue.
City Parking said the changes are central to its modernisation agenda.
“As part of City Parking’s modernisation and digital transformation strategy, select parking areas will now operate on a self-service basis,” the company noted.
To ensure flexibility and accessibility, motorists will have multiple digital payment options. These include scanning QR codes displayed on street signage, dialling the USSD code *192#, interacting with the WhatsApp chatbot on 0719515601, or using the Park Assist mobile application. This diverse range of platforms is meant to make the transition easier and accommodate different user preferences.
The company emphasised that the shift to self-service parking is meant to harness new technology to improve service delivery.
“These changes aim to enhance operational efficiency and improve the parking experience through the use of Artificial Intelligence and automation,” the notice read.
City Parking also expressed its gratitude to the public for their cooperation as the new system is introduced, adding that the transition is part of broader efforts to modernise Harare’s parking infrastructure and bring it in line with global smart-city trends.
With the new system, Harare joins a growing list of African cities embracing digital innovation to streamline urban mobility, promising a more efficient, user-friendly parking experience for motorists.
