Smart cities succeed when everyday assets such as car parks become sources of timely, actionable data. At the City of Stonnington, a multi-year collaboration with Park Agility has transformed parking systems from isolated hardware into a real-time information service for planners, parking teams, and ultimately drivers and residents. This article outlines the journey, the  objectives, the integration work, the obstacles, and the practical outcomes delivered in partnership with Park Agility. 

Role Clarity: Smart City Delivery Across the Organisation   

Goran Babušku leads the smart city function at City of Stonnington, operating across transport, assets, sustainability, and digital transformation. His remit spans urban technologies and data platforms and is not limited to traditional IT or infrastructure. 

“The role is still working with technology and people, but  different technology and different people. It works across departments and with external providers—waste, sustainability, traffic, lighting, asset management etc.” 

Problem Definition: Valuable Parking Data Locked in Silos 

Before the partnership with Park Agility, occupancy data collected to update roadside digital signs wasn’t available to broader internal users. 

“A sign might display ‘67 spaces available’, but behind that was rich occupancy data collected minute-by-minute, which data was siloed between the car park and the street sign.” 

Surfacing that data to transport planners, traffic engineers, parking officers and finance teams was the first value to unlock. 

First Deployment: From Cato Street to a Repeatable Pattern 

Stonnington’s early deployment was at the Prahran Square car park (formerly known at Cato Street). Park Agility supplied street signage and integrated it with on-site sensors that measured vehicles entering and exiting the space. The critical step was making the same data stream available through secure back-end channels for the Council’s internal IoT/Data platform, which assisted in creating a template the team could reuse. 

“Because Park Agility already had the data, they made it available to us in real time. We could see the site availability hourly and daily, rather than waiting for a monthly report.” 

Integration at Scale: A Citywide Data Pipeline   

Once the data path was established, each new or refurbished car park followed the same model. Occupancy, ramp counts and availability flowed into Stonnington’s data platform, then out to internal users. 

“As new car parks were commissioned, it was easy to bring them into the fold with the same datasets. No retrofit, no re-work,  because we’d already paved the road with help from Park Agility.” 

This approach converted single-purpose signage into a citywide parking intelligence layer. 

Operational Outcomes: Faster Insight and Better Planning 

With near real-time feeds, internal teams can see pressure points, peak times, and throughput without manual reporting cycles. The benefit is practical: faster decisions on operations, pricing policy, management strategies, and event planning. 

“The technology barrier is gone; now it’s about finding ways for wider use of the data. When teams are ready, it will be at their fingertips.” 

Vendor Selection: Future-Proofing Over Lowest Cost 

Goran is explicit about vendor expectations: present options, modern solutions, not just quotes; help the Council avoid dead-ends; design for data sharing and seamless integration. 

“If a contractor doesn’t say ‘you asked for A and B, but there’s also C and D’, that  isn’t a good contractor. We probe for added value and future-proofing, so we don’t pay later to retrofit.”

Park Agility met that bar by proactively sharing the existence and utility of their parking data, then coordinating technical teams on both sides to connect it efficiently. 

“They gave me a heads-up they had this data and helped get everything connected smoothly, without overhead or upsell.” 

What ‘Smart City’ Means in Practice: Technology + Data

Stonnington frames smart cities in two streams:  

1. Urban technologies that drive operational efficiency (e.g., smart lighting, remotely managed assets).  
2. Data products that guide decisions (e.g., occupancy, buildings performance, traffic volumes). 

“Smart city consists of two distinct streams: one stream is  emerging  technologies for operational efficiency; the other is data for decision-making and planning.” 

The roadmap reflects both: AI-enabled sensors for pedestrian, cycle and vehicle volumes; smart lighting now in 10+ parks; intelligent buildings; sustainability pilots (soil moisture, stormwater capture); and public-health tech that cut noise-complaint resolution from two months to one week.  

The Transport Vision: Integrating On-Street and Off-Street 

Stonnington now operates thousands of on-street parking sensors. Combining these with off-street occupancy feeds and driver apps creates a coherent picture for residents and visitors. 

“Real-time data at the fingertips. Drivers can decide to stay on Chapel Street or turn into a car park with 17 spaces available. That information reduces congestion.” 

Goran sees providers like Park Agility embedded in new builds and maintenance cycles so that parking supply, wayfinding and data continue to move in lockstep. 

Outcomes for Residents and Ratepayers: Less Search, Less Congestion 

The end-user benefit is simple: spend less time hunting for a bay. For the city, that means lower circulation, less gridlock near popular destinations, better compliance, and improved accessibility. 

“An app with data from different providers lets people decide quickly where to park. That improves traffic flow and the resident experience.”  

Why Park Agility: Proactive, Integrative, Subject-Matter Experts 

Park Agility’s contribution wasn’t limited to hardware. They identified the data opportunity, enabled secure access, and collaborated across teams to make integration straightforward.  

“They were forthcoming, experienced in that part, and not trying to profit from extra services. That made them a really valued contractor.” 

Their subject-matter  expertise, responsiveness and willingness to future-proof deployments turned signage projects into data projects, with enduring utility for the city. 

 About Park Agility

When The Cohen Group undertook its most significant expansion to date by doubling the size of its centre to over 39,000 sqm and becoming one of Adelaide’s most prestigious retail destinations, the goal was to create a world-class customer experience that extended beyond the centre and shops. A key part of that vision was transforming how visitors accessed and navigated the centre. To achieve this, the Cohen Group had no hesitation to appoint Park Agility, an industry leader in intelligent car park management and wayfinding technology. 

A Long-Term Approach to Property Excellence  

Founded on a philosophy of long-term stewardship and investment, the Cohen Group manages a substantial property portfolio entirely based in South Australia. From commercial and industrial sites to a significant retail centre, their assets are home to some of the country’s most recognised tenants, including Orrcon Steel, Chemist Warehouse, and Laminex. 

As well as being family-owned, The Cohen Group’s approach is supported by professional discipline and forward planning. Chaired by an independent chair and four family members, the business is known for its willingness to invest today to deliver better outcomes tomorrow. As Projects General Manager Richard Stabile explains, “the Group is willing to embrace investing upfront to ensure the long term life cycle benefit to property and position ourselves to be leaders in technology for our tenants/customers and the wider community benefit. We take pride in our assets and treat our tenants as long-term partners.” 

The Jewel in the Crown: Burnside Village 

Among The Cohen Group’s 15 assets, Burnside Village stands as the flagship retail icon renowned for its luxury and premium shopping experience and lifestyle ecosystem. Following its recent significant expansion including introducing 2 new basement levels of free undercover parking and extending our offering to almost 1600 car park spaces throughout the centre, the Group saw an opportunity to enhance the customer journey from the very first touchpoint: the decision to visit the centre and use its car park facilities.  

“An enjoyable and seamless customer experience has always been top of our list,” says Richard. “You can have the best retail centre in Australia, but if the car park experience doesn’t match, then you’re already behind the eight ball so to speak.” 

Choosing Park Agility: A Focus on Innovation and Flexibility 

The decision to engage Park Agility was driven by the Group’s desire for a state-of-the-art, best-in-class parking management system. Burnside Village already had an earlier-generation car park guidance system installed in 2010, but as Richard notes, “The technology had served its time. We wanted something more up to date dern, flexible, and capable of providing both operational insights and customer convenience.” 

Park Agility’s smart parking system replaced the old infrastructure entirely, delivering a new standard in wayfinding, usability, and data reporting. Across multiple basement levels, the new installation now provides real-time car park availability, LED guidance lighting, dynamic entry signage, and integration for licence plate recognition (LPR) that may be adopted at a later stage.   

Transforming the Customer Journey with Smarter Wayfinding  

Today, Burnside Village customers experience seamless, stress-free parking from the moment they arrive. Digital entry signs display the number of available bays on each level, while colour-coded indicators (green for available, red for occupied, pink for baby parks, blue for accessible, yellow green for EV) guide drivers to the nearest available space quickly and intuitively. 

The system’s flexibility has proven one of its strongest assets. “If we want to change the colours, the layout, or the messaging, it’s simple and easy,” explains Richard. “Even our loading bays are equipped with live parking bay availability  signage, so delivery drivers can immediately see which bays are available, thereby improving flow, reducing congestion and ultimately leading to greater efficiency.” 

This level of clarity improves convenience; and importantly enhances safety and accessibility for all users, ensuring equitable access to parking throughout the site. 

Behind the Scenes: Data, Insights, and Operational Efficiency 

Beyond the visible benefits for customers, Park Agility’s platform delivers powerful back-of-house analytics for the Cohen Group. The system provides  accurate, real-time reporting on occupancy, dwell times, and usage patterns, allowing the management team to make current data decisions about car park operations.  

“We can see exactly how long people are staying and where the parking hot spots are.” Richard says. “We can produce heat maps to identify which areas are used most often and which are underutilised and adjust our signage accordingly.” 

This data-driven approach helps Burnside Village continuously refine its car park utilisation, ensuring customers can always find a space quickly while maximising efficiency across the entire facility. 

Behind Collaboration, Flexibility, and Proactive Support  

For Richard, one of Park Agility’s standout qualities is the collaborative working relationship. “They’re incredibly flexible,” he says. “If we want to change something, we call them, and it is sorted. Their technicians are highly trained, approachable, proactive, and solution focused.”  

This partnership approach extended throughout the project, from the design and installation phase through to fine-tuning sensor angles and ensuring the system adapted to Burnside Village’s unique layout, including larger-than-average bay lengths. “They came to the table straight away with a custom solution. Nothing was too hard.”  

The collaboration also extended to integration with other contractors and systems. Park Agility collaborated seamlessly with the main builder and with the Veyor System, which manages Burnside’s loading bay operations, ensuring data integration across platforms. 

Behind Collaboration, Flexibility, and Proactive Support  

The Cohen Group’s investment in Park Agility technology is more than infrastructure; it is about reinforcing their commitment to providing a luxury/premium customer experience. Every design choice, from the signage placement to the flexibility of the system, was made with the customer and their shopping experience in mind. 

“Customer experience is everything,” says Stabile. “Our priority is making it easy for people to park, shop, and leave without frustration. Park Agility helped us to achieve that  objective.”   

Since the system went live, Burnside Village has seen smoother traffic flow, improved wayfinding, and overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers and users. The Cohen Group now has the tools and insights to maintain that standard for years to come. 

About Park Agility