The potential of parking meters sometimes gets lost in local infrastructure policy. When the money collected seems to go everywhere but the community, displeasure is bound to grow. Law firm Ballesteros Mureddu says it does not have to be that way. “Citizens are not seeing the collected money being invested in local infrastructure,” says Manuel Mureddu, Partner at Ballesteros Mureddu. Parking meters are an efficient way to stop people from claiming informal ownership of streets, as long as the measure is strengthened with other policies, adds Ballesteros Mureddu Partner Gabriel Ballesteros. They can create benefits not only for the economy but also for people visiting high-traffic areas. Ballesteros emphasizes that all local infrastructure policy. When the money collected seems to go everywhere but the community, displeasure is bound to grow. Law firm Ballesteros Mureddu says it does not have to be that way. “Citizens are not seeing the collected money being invested in local infrastructure,” says Manuel Mureddu, Partner at Ballesteros Mureddu. Parking meters are an efficient way to stop people from claiming informal ownership of streets, as long as the measure is strengthened with other policies, adds Ballesteros Mureddu Partner Gabriel Ballesteros. They can create benefits not only for the economy but also for people visiting high-traffic areas. Ballesteros emphasizes that all parking policies need to be complemented with efficient public transport. “The integration of solutions would create more space on the streets, decrease the amount of traffic and guarantee a more secure environment for pedestrians,” he says. “The main problem is that each issue is being addressed by fragmented policies, when a unified solution would create a more human city.” Considering the amount of conflict parking policies and other similar public policies can stir up, especially over cost, Mureddu says that cities need to make sure the collected money is being used for infrastructure development in a transparent and visible manner. The point is to have a deeper impact in urban development and gain citizen approval.