Tactical urban planning consists of a set of simple, low-cost and quickly executed urban planning actions aimed at the recovery of public space by people. Given that it is an urban planning that is developed according to the trial and error method, one of its main characteristics is its reversibility. It is therefore deployed in provisional actions, which become definitive only when they prove their usefulness and acceptance by citizens.
These are actions as simple as painting the ground to clearly delimit the areas reserved for vehicles and people, or the installation of benches, planters and plants to provide shade, or the physical separation of cycle lanes with kerbs, etc. These are actions that, once their validity and effectiveness have been demonstrated, are easily applied to urban planning in other parts of the city. These actions are subsequently consolidated with the application of materials and definitive urban furniture.
City councils take up what were initially citizens’ demands and implement economic solutions in urban planning that help the sustainability of cities. Some of the best-known examples of tactical urbanism include the pedestrianisation of Times Square in New York, the Piazze Aperte programme in Milan and the actions of Barcelona City Council in the Poblenou and Sant Antoni neighbourhoods.
By Manolo Barberá, Senior Hydraulic Modeller at Amusement Logic’s Architecture Dept.
