Some of the inexpensive parking lots in downtown Edmonton could be shut down next year, as the first step in a parking strategy aimed at encouraging more people to live downtown and use more transit.

The plan initially is to close down gravel lots the city owns in the Quarters redevelopment area, a few blocks east of the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Winspear Centre.

The plan will upset some drivers, but city officials said lot closures will help revitalize the city's downtown by encouraging more development.

"We don't want to hurt anybody," said Kathleen Young, development manager with the city's special projects office. "But it is time that the downtown of Edmonton looked like an urban centre."

The goal is to ultimately close down all the surface lots in the area. Young says she will be working with private owners to encourage them to either develop their lots or move somewhere else.

City manager Al Maurer agreed the city needs to take a serious look at the impact of cheap downtown parking on transit use.

"[If] people can park for $3, they're not going to pay $6 for a bus ride," he said.

The decision is part of a larger strategy aimed at turning Edmonton into a less sprawling city.

Council is also looking at parking bylaws and regulations across the city after a survey of 11 parking lots showed they are often half empty.

"A lot of development that takes place today provides more parking than what the bylaw requires and more parking than we believe is necessary to serve the development," said Scott Mackie, branch manager of the city's current planning division.

Over the next few months, planners will come up with zoning and bylaw changes that will make the city more compact.

But Mayor Stephen Mandel said the city has to be very careful with how it restricts parking

"If you find a way to reduce the number of parking stalls downtown and you raise the price of parking, all you're doing is making substantially more money for those who have the parking and make it more difficult for those who would like to drive," he said.