- Tactical Urbanism was coined in 2010 by Mike Lydon, who earned an Urban Planning degree from University of Michigan and is now based in New York where he runs his company Street Plans Collation.
- Tactical Urbanism is an “approach to neighborhood building and activation using short-term, low cost and scalable interventions and policies”.
- This form of urban design is used by community members and architects in Michigan ranging from the mayor to non-profit groups, to single citizens wanting to implement immediate change. The small-scale projects are determined by the groups involved in the problem and a creative solution is implemented in the neighborhood to address that problem by the community members.
- Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia wrote Tactical Urbanism Short-term Action for Long-term Change. Their view is that Tactical Urbanism can “proactively address the tension between bottom up and top down [planning] processes by creating a better and more responsive environment for all”. This theory assumes that small-scale, temporary changes in the city will result in long-term, permanent urban elements.
- Tactical Urbanism is a response to the slow conventional city planning process, outdated policies and the disregard for the needs of the community by governmental agencies.
- This idea has always been around, people in the past have also taken city change into their own hands, but a name and a formal description have not been associated with the idea until recently.
- We all know how it feels to be frustrated with how long things take to change for the better when you wait on government entities, and this type of urbanism stands up and says, that is not good enough, and I admire that attitude in the face of issues that really matter to the community.
- Architects in Michigan agree that Tactical Urbanism is a practical theory of strategic practice that has proved itself though its successful small-scale projects. I believe that Tactical Urbanism gives the governmental bodies, groups and citizens the power to test out larger scale urban projects without a large investment in the money and time.
- The resources of time and money alone should make any municipality eager to try more forms of Tactical Urbanism. And I believe that these ideas are spreading and making their way into these city groups.
- Tactical Urbanism also gives citizens a sense of power and ownership over projects they are a part of, which can help in the long-term success. If a person feels a sense of ownership towards something, they become more responsible for it and will make sure it stays cleaned up. They want to see it succeed
- The reach of Tactical Urbanism is endless. Even in small towns architects in Michigan can implement elements of Tactical Urbanism. There is not a prerequisite for any form of it. Therefore it can be so powerful. Almost everyone wants change in their communities for the better, this theory is not specific enough that everyone needs to agree on a certain way to do things, there are countless ways to implement Tactical Urbanism and all a person needs is a problem to solve.
- One example of a tactical urbanist movement is Park[ing] day and it has spread all over the world.
- It Originated in 2005 in San Francisco. Two leaders of the design firm, Rebar, went outside on lunch, paid the parking meter and set up sod, a tree and a bench in the on-street parking spot. They were not breaking the laws, since they had paid their parking meter rent to use the space. This action gained attention and soon others wanted the firm to host one in their city, the firm responded with a how-to guide for others to do their own parklets. This movement has cause more car-oriented places to be converted into long-term public parks. Showing the need for green space in the city.
- Small changes slowly evolve into the pattern on the city as a whole, and these small scale changes are done by the people who live there. The emphasis on the existing conditions and what the people want from their own urban community is a common idea that architects in Michigan look for.
- Jane Jacobs, in Death and Life of Great American Cities tell us, “Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design. This is the laboratory in which city planning should have been learning and forming and testing its theories” [Jacobs]
- Tactical urbanism projects are experimental and they do “view the city as a laboratory for testing in real time” [6]. Because of their small scale, and cost effectiveness, the use of tactical urban projects is how much of testing larger urban theories can be accomplished. Before the large commitment of money, time and materials is invested.
Lydon and Garcia’s criticism of urban design is that large scale projects are too slow moving for the immediate needs of the community. Many times large projects are still not funded years after the approval and sometimes they do not get the funding at all, this can cause the community to lose hope in the project and in their planning agencies Tactical urbanisms projects can be a nice middle step to keep the public’s interest and to keep funding steady for architects in Michigan to help put these ideas in place
- Another criticism of typical urban design is the importance of listening to what the people need. We have seen this in most Urban Design theories in our text. The focus on how people live in the present, and adapting spaces based on the types of communities already there is crucial.
- The social aspect of this type of urbanism defines people as a tool, not just an element to design for. The people see the issues and the same people take on the task of developing creative solutions,
- The economic side is very frugal, Tactical urbanism focus on small amounts of material and monetary investment to make a big change. This is a benefit when larger urban plans are in their beginning stages, they can be tested to be sure they are successful before the large amount of money is spent creating the permanent project.
- The underlying priority for all tactical urbanism projects is to make them permanent, or contribute to the same type of permanent city element. If these small-scale projects prove to be successful, It can help convince the governmental agencies to invest their resources into them and architects in Michigan can help push these ideas up into policy markers hands.
- The theory does not follow extremely specific rules for implementation as other theories we have read about do. The only hard requirement for all tactical urbanism projects are that the goal of the small-scale projects must be to cause a permanent change by the community and architects in Michigan.
- The size, cost, and materiality of the projects change drastically. Sometimes all you need is some paint to add a much needed crosswalk in your neighborhood. Every project has different needs.
- This theory has both short-term and long-term scopes that improve the communities they are enacted in. The first is more controlled by the people, or the bottom, and the long-term is more controlled by the government agencies, or the top.
- Although this theory responds to government policies failing, it does not fully address how to fix the slow processes in the first place. Architects in Michigan utilizing this theory can help to bridge the gap between the public and the government agencies, but the planning departments need to change their own policies to make their projects have a quicker impact.