Tactical urbanism

The term was popularized around 2010 to refer to a range of existing techniques. The Street Plans Collaborative defines "tactical urbanism" as an approach to urban change that features the following five characteristics:[2]

1. A deliberate, phased approach to instigating change;
2. The offering of local solutions for local planning challenges;
3. Short-term commitment and realistic expectations;
4. Low-risks, with a possibly high reward; and
5. The development of social capital between citizens and the building of organizational capacity between public-private institutions, non-profits, and their constituents.

While the 1984 English translation of The Practice of Everyday Life by Frenchman Michel de Certeau used the term tactical urbanism,[3] this was in reference to events occurring in Paris in 1968; the "tactical urbanism" that Certeau described was in opposition to "strategic urbanism", which modern concepts of tactical urbanism tend not to distinguish. The modern sense of the term is attributed to New York-based urban planner Mike Lydon.[4]

The Project for Public Spaces uses the phrase "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper," coined by urban designer Eric Reynolds, to describe the same basic approach expressed by tactical urbanism.[5]

The tactical urbanist movement takes inspiration from urban experiments including Ciclovía, Paris-Plages,[6] and the introduction of plazas and pedestrian malls in New York city during the tenure of Janette Sadik-Khan as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation.[7]

Tactical urbanism formally emerged as a movement following a meeting of the Next Generation of New Urbanist (CNU NextGen) group in November 2010 in New Orleans. A driving force of the movement is to put the onus back on individuals to take personal responsibility in creating sustainable buildings, streets, neighborhoods, and cities. Following the meeting, an open source project called Tactical Urbanism: Short TermAction | Long Term Change was developed by a group from NextGen to define Tactical Urbanism and to promote various interventions to improve urban design and promote positive change in neighbourhoods and communities.[8]

Tactical urbanism projects vary significantly in scope, size, budget, and support. Projects often begin as grassroots interventions and spread to other cities and are in some cases adopted by municipal governments as best practices. A list of common interventions are listed below.

Open Streets

Summer Streets in New York City, Park Avenue Viaduct

To temporarily provide safe spaces for walking, bicycling, skating, and social activities; promote local economic development; and raise awareness about the impact of cars in urban spaces. 'Open Streets' is an anglicized term for the South American 'Ciclovia', which originated in Bogota.

Protected bike lanes

Pop-up bike lane, Berlin April 2020

Bike lane protections are usually done by placing potted plants or other physical barriers to make painted bike lanes feel safer. Sometimes there is no pre-existing bike lane and the physical protection is the only delineator.

The Street Plans Collaborative, in collaboration with Ciudad Emergente and Codesign studio, produces a series of free tactical urbanism e-books. Volumes 1 and 2 focus on North American case studies, Volume 3 is a Spanish-language guide to Latin American projects, and Volume 4 covers Australia and New Zealand, including responses to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Street Plans' Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia published a tactical urbanism book in March 2015.[16]