Riyadh Parking will begin activating managed parking in the Al-Nakheel district next Sunday, raising the number of residential neighbourhoods in Riyadh covered by the scheme to 18, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The gradual expansion aims to curb improper parking practices, limit the spillover of vehicles from commercial streets and surrounding areas into residential districts, and keep parking priority for residents and their guests.

Al-Nakheel joins neighbourhoods already covered, including Al-Wurud, Al-Rahmaniyah, Al-Muruj, Al-Olaya, Al-Sulaimaniyah, Al-Muhammadiyah, King Abdullah, King Salman, Al-Masif, Al-Mursalat, Al-Quds, King Fahd, North Al-Mathar and Al-Mughrizat, Al-Nuzhah, and Al-Taawun and Al-Izdihar.

Residents of covered neighbourhoods can issue free residential permits valid for one year for all their vehicles, with no cap on the number of vehicles, through the Riyadh Parking app after registering their National Address. First-degree relatives, namely parents and children, can also obtain residential permits by adding the resident's address as an additional address in the National Address system, and can then issue visitor permits like the neighbourhood's residents.

Two types of visitor permits are available: a general invitation permit valid for up to 24 hours that does not require vehicle details, and a private invitation permit valid for up to three days that requires vehicle details and covers up to 20 vehicles. No national ID is needed to issue any type of visitor permit.

Activation in each neighbourhood is preceded by an awareness campaign, and Riyadh Parking follows a gradual approach: unauthorised vehicles first receive warning messages so their owners can obtain a permit before a violation is recorded. All permits are issued instantly through the app, while monitoring cameras read number plates and automatically check for a valid permit linked to them.

Riyadh Parking urged users to make sure the plate details registered in the app are accurate, especially when entered manually, matching the plate type, numbers and letters with the actual vehicle. For Al-Nakheel households, including expatriate families, registering the National Address and vehicle details in the app is the first step to using the new system.