Tactical Urbanism

1. Tactical Urbanism: Short-term action for long-term change

"Tactical Urbanism is an approach to neighborhood building and activation using short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions and policies."

Defining Tactical Urbanism. This approach to urban development focuses on quick, often temporary changes to the built environment to spark long-term transformation. It allows citizens, organizations, and governments to test ideas and gather data before making large investments.

Key characteristics:

• Low-cost and low-risk
• Scalable and replicable
• Community-driven
• Iterative and flexible
• Aimed at policy or physical change

Tactical Urbanism can be used to bypass slow bureaucracies, engage the public in planning processes, or as an early implementation tool for larger projects. It empowers citizens to take an active role in shaping their communities and helps cities respond more nimbly to changing needs.

2. The historical roots of citizen-led urban interventions

"Human ingenuity aimed at improving urban life knows no profession, sector, or points along a historical timeline."

Ancient origins. The impulse to create temporary or low-cost responses to urban challenges is not new. Examples throughout history demonstrate how citizens and leaders have used tactical approaches to shape cities.

Historical precedents include:

• The first urban street in Khoirokoitia, Cyprus (7000-3000 BCE)
• Roman military camps (castra) as precursors to planned cities
• Medieval market squares and street fairs
• 19th century World's Fairs as urban laboratories
• Early 20th century Play Streets movement

These examples show that the principles of Tactical Urbanism—temporary, low-cost, flexible, iterative, and participatory—have long been part of the urban development process. Understanding this history helps contextualize modern tactical interventions within a broader tradition of city-making.

3. The rise of Tactical Urbanism in the 21st century

"Four converging trends and events have helped increase the use of Tactical Urbanism interventions."

21st century catalyst. The recent surge in Tactical Urbanism is driven by four major factors:

1. Urban migration: Growing demand for walkable, livable cities
2. The Great Recession: Economic constraints forcing creative solutions
3. Internet and social media: Enabling rapid sharing of ideas and organization
4. Frustration with slow government processes

Digital age impact. The rise of "radical connectivity" through smartphones and social media has dramatically changed how citizens engage with their cities. This technology allows for rapid dissemination of tactical projects, crowdfunding of initiatives, and real-time data collection on interventions.

The combination of these factors has created fertile ground for citizens and forward-thinking government officials to experiment with new approaches to city-building that are faster, cheaper, and more responsive to community needs.

4. Intersection Repair: Reclaiming streets as community spaces

"It's not about the paint. It's about neighbors creating something bigger than themselves."

Community-driven placemaking. Intersection Repair, pioneered in Portland, Oregon, involves citizens transforming street intersections into vibrant public spaces through murals, benches, and other amenities.

Key aspects:

• Grassroots organizing and implementation
• Use of art and placemaking to slow traffic
• Building social connections among neighbors
• Often leads to policy changes allowing similar projects

The success of Intersection Repair demonstrates how small-scale, citizen-led interventions can catalyze broader change in urban policy and community engagement. It has spread to cities across North America, showing the power of tactical approaches to inspire replication and scaling.

5. Guerrilla Wayfinding: Encouraging walking through DIY signage

"It's bullshit! At the time I chose to live between the University and downtown, in a historic neighborhood built for walking, yet so few people would. They would drive two minutes just to get dinner."

Challenging perceptions. Guerrilla Wayfinding, exemplified by Matt Tomasulo's Walk Raleigh project, uses unauthorized signage to highlight walkable distances between destinations, challenging the perception that driving is always necessary.

Project elements:

• Low-cost, easily removable signs
• Walking times to popular destinations
• QR codes for directions
• Rapid prototyping and iteration

The project's success in Raleigh led to official adoption by the city and inspired similar initiatives worldwide. It demonstrates how a simple, unauthorized intervention can lead to sanctioned programs and shift public perceptions about urban mobility.

6. Build a Better Block: Rapid neighborhood revitalization

"Instead of town hall meetings, charrettes, and long discussions, just go on-site to where the problem is and start fixing things within days, not years."

Temporary transformation. The Better Block project, started in Dallas, Texas, involves rapidly transforming a single city block using temporary materials to demonstrate the potential for revitalization.

Key components:

• Pop-up businesses in vacant storefronts
• Temporary bike lanes and street redesigns
• Public spaces and seating
• Community-driven implementation

Better Block projects have led to immediate policy changes, new businesses, and long-term neighborhood improvements. The approach has been replicated in over 100 locations worldwide, showing the power of tactical interventions to catalyze rapid change and build community support for urban improvements.

7. Parklets and Pop-ups: Transforming parking into public space

"Parklets provide landscaped and small gathering areas, often in the place of former on-street parking spaces."

Reclaiming space for people. Parklets and pop-up parks transform parking spaces or other underutilized areas into small public spaces, often initiated by citizens or local businesses.

Characteristics:

• Low-cost, often temporary installations
• Extend sidewalk space for seating, greenery, or activities
• Can be used to test demand for permanent public space
• Often lead to policy changes allowing similar interventions

These interventions, inspired by the annual PARK(ing) Day event, have been adopted by cities worldwide as official programs. They demonstrate how small-scale tactical projects can lead to systemic changes in how cities allocate street space and engage with citizens in placemaking.

8. Pavement to Plazas: Reclaiming asphalt for people

"With innovative designs and a little paint, we've shown you can change a street quickly with immediate benefits."

Quick transformation. The Pavement to Plazas program, pioneered in New York City, rapidly converts underused street space into public plazas using paint, planters, and movable furniture.

Key elements:

• Low-cost materials for quick implementation
• Data-driven approach to measure impact
• Partnership with local organizations for management
• Pathway to permanent reconstruction

The success of projects like the Times Square pedestrianization has inspired similar programs in cities worldwide. This approach demonstrates how tactical interventions can be used by city governments to quickly deliver public space improvements and build support for more permanent changes.

9. Design Thinking approach to Tactical Urbanism projects

"Design thinking is not a completely foreign concept to the allied disciplines of city building."

Structured creativity. Applying the Design Thinking process to Tactical Urbanism projects provides a framework for developing effective interventions:

1. Empathize: Understand the community's needs
2. Define: Identify specific problems to address
3. Ideate: Generate creative solutions
4. Prototype: Plan a quick, low-cost intervention
5. Test: Implement and gather feedback

This approach emphasizes user-centered design, rapid prototyping, and iterative improvement. It helps ensure that tactical projects address real community needs and can adapt based on real-world feedback.

10. Planning, funding, and implementing tactical interventions

"How do you fund Tactical Urbanism projects? As you might imagine, this is one of the most common questions we receive. The answer is short: Any way possible!"

From idea to action. Implementing Tactical Urbanism projects requires careful planning, creative funding, and resourceful material sourcing.

Key considerations:

• Decide between sanctioned or unsanctioned approaches
• Identify project partners and roles
• Develop a clear timeline and budget
• Navigate permitting processes (for sanctioned projects)
• Source low-cost or donated materials

Funding options include crowdfunding, grants, sponsorships, or in-kind donations. The emphasis on low-cost, temporary materials allows for experimentation with limited resources. Successful projects often lead to more substantial funding for permanent improvements.

11. Measuring impact and learning from tactical experiments

"If you are not measuring the impact, you are writing only half the story."

Data-driven improvement. Measuring the impact of Tactical Urbanism projects is crucial for learning, improving, and building support for long-term change.

Measurement strategies:

• Before-and-after data collection (e.g., pedestrian counts, sales figures)
• Surveys and interviews with users and stakeholders
• Photo and video documentation
• Social media engagement metrics

The "build-measure-learn" cycle allows for rapid iteration and improvement of interventions. Demonstrating concrete benefits through data can help build political support for expanding successful tactical projects into permanent policies or infrastructure improvements.

By embracing this experimental, data-driven approach, cities and citizens can learn quickly what works in their specific context and make more informed decisions about long-term investments in the urban environment.

Last updated: November 18, 2024