The local government will require parking lots operating on vacant land to meet fire safety and noise control regulations from next year, the local transportation authority announced at a press conference Wednesday.

The new rules, part of a recent amendment to the city's parking lot regulations, will bring these unregistered lots, which operate in a legal gray zone, into the fold of legal commerce as the city struggles with a severe shortage of parking spaces.

"Although Shanghai has 2,213 registered parking lots, which provide 389,000 parking spots, the city is still short about 300,000 spots, according to our estimates," said Zhou Huai, deputy chief of the Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority.

Officials did not offer figures for the number of unregistered lots in the city.

Under current regulations, these lots don't need government approval to operate, according to a press release from the Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority.

"In an effort to tackle the prevalent parking problem, the authority decided to create regulations for unregistered parking lots that require operators to pass the authority's fire safety, noise control and nearby traffic evaluations," said Gu Changhao, vice director of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government Legislation Affairs Office.

Unregistered parking lots have sprung up around the city in recent years. Lots located near Shanghai Pudong International Airport can beat the prices offered in the airport parking garages, but car owners may be unknowingly taking on additional risk by parking at them. Transportation officials have pointed out that unregistered lots may not be covered by insurance, leaving car owners to bear the entire cost of  repairs if their vehicle is damaged while parked there.

In addition, the amended regulations required all levels of government in the city to issue guidelines on opening residential parking lots to nearby businesses during the day.

However, Gu acknowledged that doing so could infringe on private property rights and similar efforts have met with little success in the past.