Tactical

URBANISM
2
Short-Term Action | | Long-Term Change

tactical
adj: \ t a k - t i - k l \

1. of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose

2. adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose

GENERA
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NEXTGEN
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Tacticians
MIKE LYDON, Project Editor/Author
DAN BARTMAN, Layout/Copy Editor
TONY GARCIA, Contributor
RUSS PRESTON, Contributor
RONALD WOUDSTRA, Contributor
 The lack of resources is no longer an excuse not to act.
The idea that action should only be taken after all the
answers and the resources have been found is a sure
recipe for paralysis. The planning of a city is a process
that allows for corrections; it is supremely arrogant to
believe that planning can be done only after every possible
variable has been controlled.
- Jaime Lerner
Architect, urbanist, former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil

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 A NOTE ON VOLUME 2!
During the fall of 2010 I traveled to New Orleans
to take part in a retreat with my friends and colleagues who
sometimes self-identify as the Next Generation of New
Urbanists. While staying there in the Marigny, I shared my
notes on a number of seemingly unrelated, but similar small-
scale initiatives happening in the streets of New York, San
Francisco, Portland, and Dallas. Per usual, they challenged me
to better articulate my ideas and offered to help.
Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action, Long-term
Change, Volume 1 was then assembled during the spring of 2011
and uploaded from 38,000 feet while flying to Bangkokas
inspirational a city as any for the tactical urbanist. The intent
of the publication was to place an umbrella over a growing
number of short-term, often self-funded efforts that were
demonstrably leading to long-term change.
The term tactical urbanism is inspired by a June
2010 faslanyc blog post that discusses the pedestrianization
of Times Square. In the introduction the author describes
the DOTs efforts as tactical interventions, and hacks.
It was my first exposure to such terms applied to the built
environment and it seemed to perfectly describe not just the
Greenlight for Broadway project, but a groundswell of other
low-cost, un- semi- and fully-sanctioned interventions.
Volume 1 was uploaded to my companys website
and to the Pattern Cities blog. In less than two months the
document was downloaded more than 10,000 times, the
maximum number allowed with our free SCRIBD account.
We knew that the publication struck a chord with a whole
new generation of citymakers.
Sensing a need to further discuss and share tactical
initiatives from across the country, we partnered with
numerous organizations in the fall of 2011 to produce the first
Tactical Urbanism Salon. Approximately 150 people from
around the country (and Canada) discussed their projects,
listened to others, and drank free beer. Prior to the Salon we
promised attendees that wed release Volume II. However, with
several other projects in the works, that promise turned out
to be a bit too ambitious. Nonetheless, from Weed Bombing
and Depave, to Ad-Busting and Camps, Tactical Urbanism
Volume 2 presents updated information, new insights, new
photos, and 12 additional short-term actions inspiring long-
term change. I hope you find the initiatives presented herein
as inspirational as they are practical.

MIKE LYDON
Editor / Author
The Street Plans Collaborative
March 2, 2012

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 PARK(ing) Day participants temporarily reclaim an on-street parking space for a more productive use.
Credit: Parking Day flickr pool

THE CHALLENGE TACTICAL URBANISM

Cities are in a constant state of flux, which may Improving the livability of our towns and cities
explain we planners are often preoccupied with control. commonly starts at the street, block, or building scale.
Large-scale transformations, such as stadiums, muse- While larger scale efforts do have their place, incremen-
ums, large waterfront parks, and convention centers are tal, small-scale improvements are increasingly seen as a
all big-ticket items with measurable curb appeal (for way to stage more substantial investments. This approach
some). Yet, such projects require a substantial invest- allows a host of local actors to test new concepts before
ment of time, as well as a deep reserve of political, social, making substantial political and financial commitments.
and fiscal capital. Moreover, the long-term economic or Sometimes sanctioned, sometimes not, these actions are
social benefit cannot be guaranteed. commonly referred to as guerilla urbanism, pop-up
In the pursuit of equitable progress, citizens are urbanism, city repair, or D.I.Y. urbanism.
typically invited to engage in a process that is fundamen- While exhibiting several overlapping character-
tally broken: rather than being asked to contribute to stics, tactical urbanism, is a deliberate approach to city-
incremental change at the neighborhood or block level, making that features the following five characteristics:
residents are asked to react to proposals they often dont
understand, and at a scale for which they have little con- A deliberate, phased approach to instigating change;
trol. For better or worse, this often results in NIMBYism An offering of local ideas for local planning chal-
of the worst kind. Surmounting the challenges inherent lenges;
to these public processes continues to prove difficult. Short-term commitment and realistic expectations;
Fortunately, cities were not always made this way. We do Low-risks, with a possibly a high reward; and
have alternatives. The development of social capital between citizens,
and the building of organizational capacity between

Tactical 1
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 public/private institutions, non-profit/NGOs, and
their constituents.

EXPERIMENTATION INFORMS DESIGN

Case studies from across North America reveal
the benefit of taking an incremental approach to the pro-
cess of city buildinglong-term change often starts with
trying something small. Upon implementation, results
may be observed and measured in real time. In this way,
tactical urbanism projects intentionally create a laborato-
ry for experimentation. Or, to paraphrase professor Na-
beel Hamdi, they allow for the making of plans without
the preponderance of planning.
When such experiments are done inexpensively, Temporary experiments can test physical improvements prior to
implementation. Credit: Edward Erfurt IV
and with flexibility, adjustments may be made before
moving forward with large capital expenditures. Indeed,
there is real merit in a municipality or developer spending der, the temporary improvement directly communicated
$30,000 on temporary plaza before investing $3,000,000 the need, and a real desire from the public for better pe-
in changes that are permanent. If the project doesnt work destrian infrastructure. The crosswalk has since become
as planned, the entire budget is not exhausted and future permanent.
designs may be calibrated to absorb the lessons learned Similarly, the Toronto-based Urban Repair Squad
from what is surely a particular and dynamic context. If maintains a website that gathers images of D.I.Y. urban
done well, such small-scale changes may be conceived repairs in the citys public spaces. They recently featured
as the first step in realizing lasting change. Thus, tacti- images of bicycle symbols painted on streets indicating
cal urbanism is most effective when used in conjunction the need for future extensions of the citys bicycle net-
with long-term planning efforts that marry the urgency work.
of now with the wisdom of patient capital. In an increasing number of instances, municipali-
If included as part of a public planning process, ties follow the lead of their citizens by more permanently
tactical urbanism may more quickly build trust amongst implementing the short-term, low-budget livability im-
disparate interest groups and community leaders. Indeed, provements initiated by citizen-activists. In other cases,
if the public is able to physically participate in the im- those working within city hall are taking the lead.
provement of the city, no matter how small the effort,
there is an increased likelihood of gaining increased pub- WHY NOW?
lic support for more permanent change later. Involving While many of the tactics profiled herein are
the public in the physical testing of ideas may also yield new, the city- and place-making process we now call tac-
unique insights into the expectations of future users and tical urbanism is not (see pgs. 4-5). Indeed, the develop-
the types of design features for which they yearn; truly ment of human settlements has always included, if not
participatory planning must go beyond drawing on flip required incremental and self-directed action aimed to-
charts and maps. wards increasing social capital, commercial opportunity,
Finally, using tactical urbanism to activate those and urban livability. In many developing cities and coun-
plans already sitting on the shelf may recover the mo- tries, this remains the only way forward.
mentum gained during the actual planning process and It is only recently that the triumvirate of cheap oil,
move some of the most realistic or exciting ideas closer easy financing, and government regulations, like Euclid-
to fruition. ean zoning, has dulled the spirit of the North American
Tactical urbanism can be used to simply build tactical urbanist. We attribute the new wave of tactical
public awareness, to identify a small but pressing issue. projects, which run along a continuum of unsanctioned
Recently in Baltimore, Maryland a guerilla crosswalk to sanctioned efforts (see pgs. 7), to three recent and
was painted across a busy street with inexpensive white overlapping trends:
paint and rollers. Although the city typically removes
unauthorized signs and pavement markings in short or- 1. The Great Recession
2. Shifting demographics

Tactical 2
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3. The Internet as a tool for building the civic economy

First, a benefit of the recession is that it slowed

the North American growth machine. This effectively
forced citizens, city departments, and developers to take
The Great Shifting
matters into their own hands, get creative with project Recession Demographics
funding, and concentrate on smaller, more incremental
efforts. Tactical
URBANISM

This has occurred while more and more people

especially the young and well educatedhave continued
to move into once forlorn walkable neighborhoods.This
cohort includes retirees, who are also interested in re- The Internet as
making their chosen neighborhoods. Interestingly, some a Tool for
Building the
of these young people are also moving into government Civic Economy
leadership positions as the baby boomers retire.
Finally, the culture of sharing tactics online has
grown tremendously and is becoming more sophisticat-
ed. Thanks to web-based tools, a blogger can share some-
The rise in tactical urbanism may be attributed to three recent and
thing tactical in Dallas and have it re-blogged, tweeted, overlapping trends.
facebooked etc. in dozens of cities within minutes. The
most industrious tactical urbanists, such as Team Better siliency found in sprawling, auto-centric environments.
Block, Rebar, and Depave, are using the web as a plat- It seems that human-scaled places, where social capital
form for sharing free how-to manuals aimed at helping and creativity are most easily catalyzed, are a pre-req-
you bring their tactics to your town. Such a trend is an uisite for tactical urbanism. The larger moves and de-
example of what Britains National Endowment for Sci- sign techniques, such as those highlighted in the Sprawl
ence, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) calls the civic Repair Manual and Retrofitting Suburbia might provide
economy the spirit of entrepreneurship combined more appropriate first moves in dealing with Americas
with the aspiration of civic renewal. unwalkable suburbs.
WHY HERE AND NOT THERE?
Theoretically, tactical urbanism can be applied to
the arterials, parking lots, and cul-de-sacs of America.
Yet, the best examples are consistently found in compact
towns and cities featuring an undervalued/underutilized
supply of walkable urban fabric. We believe this calls at-
tention to the limited social, economic, and physical re-

Can this be chairbombed? How does a parklet add value if there is no

on-street parking or sidewalks? Can you build a better block if there is no
coherent block structure? Credit: Unknown

Tactical 3
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 Pattern
CITIES

Tactical TIMELINE
Select Patterns of Influence

A handful of cities continually establish urban at a meaningful scale and/or time in history. In the age
development paradigms that others readily follow. of the Internet, new patterns spread faster than ever
These cities, which we call Pattern Cities, arent always before. Tactical urbanism is but one pattern and its being
the progenitors of innovation, nor are they necessarily adopted in cities across the United States and beyond.
Global Cities. Rather, they are the first to adapt ideas Learn more at http://patterncities.com

1914 NYC launches the Play Streets program 2007 Sao Paulo, Brazil bans billboards, inspires Ad-
1950 Play Streets spread to London, England Busters around the world
1965 Seattle starts first Open Streets initiative 2009 Pavement to Parks begins in San Francisco
1970 San Francisco artist Bonnie Ora Sherk introduces 2010 Build a Better Block started in Dallas
Portable Architecture project, a foreunner of 2010 DoTank Chair Bombs the Streets of Brooklyn
Park(ing) Day 2010 NYC rebrands San Frans Pavement to Parks as
1973 Guerilla Gardening efforts start in NYC Pop-Up Cafes
1997 City Repair adopt intersections in Portland 2011 City Point developers use Site Pre-
2001 First Pop-Up Retail event held in London Vitalization at Brooklyns Dekalb Market
2005 Park(ing) Day develops in San Francisco 2011 Guggenheim Museum opens its traveling T
2006 Programmed, Bogot-styled Open Streets Town Hall, the Guggenheim Lab
initatives spread to North America 2011 San Francisco launches the Parkmobile
2006 Pavement to Plazas program starts in NYC 2011 Activists begin Weed Bombing Miami streets
2007 Depave program launched in Portland, OR 2012 Grand Central Park, Biscayne Parkway bring
2007 Site Pre-Vitalization used for Hercules Market in insta-parks to downtown Miami
Hercules, CA

Tactical 4
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Les Bouquinistes. Credit: Charles Simond,
Tactical 40La vie parisienne travers le XIXe
URBANISM What began as an unsanctioned use of public space in the 16th century has
sicle, Paris, E. Plon, Nourrit et cie, 1900, p. 458. become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Credit: EventSeekr.com

Tactical TIMELINE
Les Bouquinistes

Les Bouquinistes in Paris, France, demonstrate 1500s Traveling Book Sellers begin setting up infor -
that tactical urbanism is nothing new. Beginning in the mal pop-up shops along the Seine
16th century, unsanctioned booksellers began congregat- 1649 Book sellers banned at Pont Neufe, later rein-
ing along the banks of the Seine to hawk the latest best- stated
sellers. 1789 Bouquiniste appears in French dictionary
However, much like brick and mortar restau- 1859 City permits Bouquinistes at fixed points along
rants denounce todays food trucks, physical bookshop the Seine, regulates amount of space allowed,
owners complained loudly enough to have the booksell- charges registration fee
ers banned in 1649. Not to be deterred, les bouquinistes 1930s Box dimensions are fixed, regulated by City
proved so popular that the city had to eventually allow, 1993 Jacque Chirac signs law standardizing new box
their presence. However, regulations confined them to size
specific locations and stipulated that each shop must 2007 Declared UNESCO World Heritage site
collapse into a box at days end. 2012 300,000 books, 900 boxes, 240 sellers, along
In 2007 the area occupied by Les Bouquinistes 3km of prime Seine real estate
was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site,
which makes this tactic one of the slowest, if not the
most lauded, examples of tactical urbanism.

Tactical 5
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The boxes of Les Bouquinistes.
Credit: Acscosta via Wikipedia

42 6
Tactical
Tactical
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 Tactical
Urbanism

City Agencies - Open Streets

Mayors Office - Park(ing) Day
BIDs - Pavement to Plazas
Intersection Repair
tacticians

Pop-Up Shops
Play Streets
Non-profits - Bike Parking Food Carts/Trucks
Entrepreuners -
Street Fairs
Developers - Build a Better Block Mobile Vendors
Pop-Up Cafes
Guerilla Gardening Site Pre-Vitalization
Local Activists -
Comunity Groups - Chairbombing Temporary Retail
Artists -
Ad Busting Pop-Up Civic Forum

Tactics

Unsanctioned Hybrid Sanctioned

THE TACTICAL URBANISM SPECTRUM

Tactical urbanism projects can be placed along
a spectrum of unsanctioned to sanctioned efforts. Many
examples in this guide began as unsanctioned grassroots
interventions that proved so successful that they soon
became sanctioned or permanent. The Depave program,
for example, began with neighborhood activists but has
transformed into a non-profit funded by the City of
Portland and the EPA. This is how short-term action
creates long-term change. This is tactical urbanism.
The Project Lodge at CNU 19 in Madison, WI.
Credit: Aurash Khawarzad
VOLUME 2
Two dozen tactics are included in this, the second
survey of tactical urbanism projects. While not compre-
hensive, and mostly limited to the North American con-
text, the work described herein presents numerous op-
portunities to transform our towns and cities into better
places to occupy together. If you have additional tactics
to add, please send them to info@streetplans.org

Brainstorming the tactical spectrum at the Project Lodge.

Credit: Payton Chung

Tactical 7
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Because there should be one...
Credit: Team Better Block
Tactics
OPEN STREETS Ten
PLAY STREETS Twelve
BUILD A BETTER BLOCK Thirteen
PARK(ING) DAY Fourteen
GUERILLA GARDENING Sixteen
POP-UP RETAIL Seventeen
PAVEMENT TO PLAZAS Eighteen
PAVEMENT TO PARKS Twenty
POP-UP CAFES Twenty One
DEPAVE Twenty Two
CHAIR BOMBING Twenty Four
FOOD CARTS/TRUCKS Twenty Six
SITE PRE-VITALIZATION Twenty Seven
POP-UP TOWN HALL Twenty Eight
INFORMAL BIKE PARKING Thirty
INTERSECTION REPAIR Thirty One
AD-BUSTING Thirty Two
RECLAIMED SETBACKS Thirty Four
PARK MOBILE Thirty Five
WEED BOMBING Thirty Six
MOBILE VENDORS Thirty Eight
MICRO-MIXING Thirty Nine
PARK-MAKING Forty
CAMPS Forty Two
DoTank
 OPEN STREETS SUMMARY MAP - 2005
Winnipeg, MB

Cleveland, OH

Savannah, GA

OPEN STREETS SUMMARY MAP - 2011

Seattle, WA

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open STREETS

PURPOSE: To temporarily provide safe spaces for

walking, bicycling, skating and social
activities; promote local economic
development; and raise awareness
about the detrimental effects of the
automobile on urban living.
LEADERS: City departments
Politicians
Advocates
Non-Profits
SCALE: City || District || Corridor
FACT: 50 of the 70 known North American
open streets initiatives began within
the last three years.

Open Streets initiatives are increasingly common

in cities seeking innovative ways to meet environmental,
social, economic, and public health goals. Open streets
are often referred to as ciclova, which in Spanish trans-
lates literally as bike path. The origin is largely thought The Open Streets Project Guide.
to be Bogot, Colombia, a city known worldwide for Credit: Street Plans and Alliance for Biking & Walking
being a leader of the ciclova/open streets movement.
However, before there was Ciclova in Bogot, there was
Seattle Bicycle Sundays, which first launched in 1965,
predating Bogots ciclova by nearly a decade.
While the benefits of Open Streets initiatives are
widely recognized, perhaps the most tangible benefit is
the social interaction and activity that developsthou-
sands of people of all ages, incomes, occupations, reli-
gions, and races have the opportunity to meet in the pub-
lic realm while sharing in physical or social activities. In
doing so, participants develop a wider understanding of
their city, each other, and the potential for making streets
friendlier for people. Madison, Wisconsins Ride The Drive initiativeconsistently
draws 20,000 - 25,000 participants. Credit: Mike Lydon
The resulting vibrancy therefore enables people
to experience their citys public realm in a different way,
which helps build broader political support for undertak-
ing more permanent pedestrian, bicycle, and other liv-
ability improvements. In this way, open streets are a tool
for building social and political capital, while having very
real economic impacts for businesses, vendors, and orga-
nizations along the chosen route.
Perhaps Waterloo, ON City Councilor, Melissa
Durrell, said it best when describing her citys Car Free
Sunday initiative: This is about bringing people into the
core.
Atlantas Streets Alive! initiative brings people together.
Credit: Mike Lydon
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 Play STREETS
PURPOSE: To create safe spaces for people of all
ages to be social and active.
LEADERS: Neighborhood / Block Associations
Advocates
City departments
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: Many city neighborhoods lack
adequate park and open space. Play
Streets fill this need by providing a
safe space for recreation and
community interaction.

Play streets, popular in New York City and

London, re-purpose the public right-of-way for recre-
ational activities. In essence, play streets create a public
playground within a space formerly used for the move-
ment and storage of private automobiles. They often
occur seasonally and are typically located adjacent to A London play street.
schools or in neighborhoods where open space is scarce. Credit: streetplaylondon.blogspot.com
When implemented in low-income neighborhoods, they
may be paired with farmers markets or underutilized
school playgrounds, which can have a multiplier effect.
In New York City, a play street is made possible
when 51% of the residents living on a one-way residen-
tial block sign a petition and offer it to their local police
and transportation officials, who then send it to the lo-
cal Community Board for review. If approved, the City
provides youth workers to oversee the program. Approxi-
mately 75% of these initiatives are organized by the New
York City Police Athletic League, which began organiz-
ing play streets in 1914.
New Yorks Jackson Heights neighborhood dem-
onstrates how an incremental approach may bring forth
permanent change. In 2008 and 2009 a single block of
In Jackson Heights, car-free space creates carefree play space.
78th street (located next to a school, between North- Credit: Clarence Eckerson
ern Boulevard and 34th street) was closed to motor-
ists on Sundays-only during the spring, summer, and
fall months. Instantly loved by community members,
the block was then closed in July and August to motor
vehicle traffic every day during the following year. Suc-
ceeding once again, the play street expanded to include
the month of September in 2011 so that public health
officials could study how the street closure works when
school is in session. If deemed successful by the City, the
street will become permanently closed to motor vehicles,
while remaining fully open to people.

Play streets create playgrounds where they dont currently exist

Credit: New York Times
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build a BETTER block
PURPOSE: To promote livable streets and
neighborhood vitality.
LEADERS: Local Advocates
Local Businesses
SCALE: Street || Block || Building
FACT: Fort Worths Better Block Project was
built using only $500 worth of
materials. Today, some of the changes
proposed are being made permanent
by the City of Forth Worth.

Local community activists in the Dallas neigh-

borhood of Oak Cliff launched the Build a Better Block
project. Spearheaded by Go Oak Cliff, the organization
relied upon cheap or donated materials, and the work
of many volunteers to transform a single underutilized
urban block. Before and after: Dallas Build a Better Block
Credit: Go Oak Cliff
In short, Build a Better Block encourages local
activists and property owners to temporarily activate
vacant storefronts and public space. In Dallas, the first
effort utilized food vendors and sidewalk cafe tables
as places to congregate. New York style cycle tracks
painted along the curb pushed cars outward to reduce
the number of travel lanes, which effectively slowed traf-
fic. Finally, native landscaping and street furniture helped
improve the blocks sense of place.
To date, the Build a Better Block effort has had
a substantial spin-off effect: the momentum gained from
the project led to the permanent use of formerly under-
utilized retail space. Additionally, the process helped ad-
vocates in Dallas and Forth Worth garner a commitment
from their leaders to permanently implement complete
street improvements. It has also spurred a new consul- The Fort Worth, TX Build a Better Block effort led to permanent change.
tancy firm, called Team Better Block. They are now ad- Credit: fortworthology.com
vising other organizations and cities to use the low-cost,
low-risk process to to incite change.
As a touchstone of the tactical urbanism move-
ment, the Better Block approach continues to capture
the attention of urbanists and advocates. Similar efforts
have now taken place in Forth Worth, Oklahoma City,
Philadelphia, Memphis, and beyond.
In Oyster Bay, NY, a similar strategy deployed
by DoTank and Street Plans utilized pop-up shops and
a farmers market, which have since become permanent.
This includes Billy Joels 20th Century Cycles, a motor-
cycle showroom that has become a regional draw. Joel
participated in the initial event and was struck by the
In Oyster Bay, Billy Joel rehabbed a vacant storefront for his motorcycle
potential of the space he now rents. collection, which is now a regional draw. Credit: Mike Lydon

Tactical 13
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A street temporarily transformed.
Credit: Art Monaco Portland via my.parkingday.org
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PARK( ING) DAY
PURPOSE: To reclaim space devoted to
automobiles, and to increase the
vitality of street life
LEADERS: Advocates
Non-Profits
Community Groups
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: In 2011, 975 on-street parking spaces
were temporarily reclaimed in 165
cities, 35 countries, and across six
continents.

PARK(ing) Day is an annual event where on- Bonnie Ora Sherks 1970 Portable Architecture project.
street parking spaces are converted into park-like public Credit: Bonnie Ora Sherk
spaces. The initiative is intended to draw attention to the
sheer amount of space devoted to the storage of private
automobiles.
While its provenance is sometimes debated
among advocates in New York and San Francisco, re-
search reveals that Bonnie Ora Sherk, a San Francisco-
based artist, first began converting pavement to parks
with her 1970 project entitled Portable Architecture.
Nonetheless, the outward marketing of the ini-
tiative first occurred in 2005 when the interdisciplinary
design group Rebar converted a single San Francisco
parking space into a mini-park. The group simply laid
down sod, added a bench and tree, and fed the meter
with quarters. Instantly garnering national attention,
PARK(ing) Day has spread rapidly amongst livable city
A PARK(ing) Day installation.
advocates and is thought to be the pre-cursor to New Credit: flickr user iomarch
York and San Franciscos parklet and pavement to parks
programs.
At its core, PARK(ing) Day encourages collabo-
ration amongst local citizens to create thoughtful, but
temporary additions to the public realm. Once reclaimed,
parking spaces are programmed in any number of ways;
many focus on local, national, or international advocacy
issues, while others adopt specific themes or activities.
The possibilities and designs are as endless as they are
fun.
While participating individuals and organizations
operate independently, they do follow a set of established
guidelines. Newcomers can pick up the PARK(ing) Day
Manifesto, which covers the basic principles and includes In 2010 a group of non-profit and neighborhood organizations hosted a
a how-to implementation guide. pot-luck park(ing) day after party below the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Credit: flickr user Brodowski

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Guerilla GARDENING
PURPOSE: To introduce more greenery and
gardening into the urban environment
LEADERS: Neighborhood Advocates
SCALE: Block || Lot
FACT: Guerilla Gardening first began in 1973
when New York City activists threw
condoms with local seeds, water, and
fertilizer into vacant lots

First coined by Liz Christy and her Green Guer-

rilla group in 1973, guerilla gardening is now an inter-
national movement. Although there are many permuta- San Franciscos Sunday Streets
tions, guerrilla gardening is the act of gardening on public Credit: ???
or private land without permission. Typically, the chosen
sites are vacant or underutilized properties in urban areas.
The direct re-purposing of the land is often intended to
raise awareness for a myriad of social and environmental
issues, including sustainable food systems, urban storm-
water management, improving neighborhood aesthetics,
and the power of short-term, collaborative local action.
When applying the tactic to contested land,
guerilla gardeners often take action under the cover of
night, where vegetables may be sowed, or flower gardens
planted and cared for without running the risk of being Guerilla Gardening offers an outlet for creative energy.
caught. Credit: Loralee Edwards, Lethbridge Guerilla Gardening

Guerilla gardening is an excellent tactic for no-

ticeably improving an urban neighborhood. Often times,
gardens are cared for years after they are first created,
illegally. Indeed, the first garden started in a vacant New
York City lot by the Green Guerillas became so loved
that volunteers and the New York City Parks Depart-
ment now maintain it. This exemplifies how unsanc-
tioned short-term action creates sanctioned, long- term
change.

Green Guerillas at work.

Credit: Guerilla Gardening Development Blog

Tactical 16
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POP- UP RETAIL
PURPOSE: To promote the temporary use of
vacant retail space or lots.
LEADERS: Developers
Local Entrepreneurs
Artists
Corporations
SCALE: Street || Building
FACT: Pop-up retail, was coined
in late 2003 by trendwatching.com.
The concept of pop-up urban
improvement initiatives has since been Manifesto Bicycles is one of six stores in Oaklands Popuphood.
applied to dozens of other similar Credit: Oakland North
temporary interventions.

Apparel companies looking to generate brand

awareness first utilized the pop-up retail tactic. At first,
such efforts made temporary use of vacant retail spaces
by creating an event-like atmosphere for a limited time
sometimes even just one day. For retailers, the focus is
generally on marketing or proof-of-concept, rather than
producing sales.
Companies large and small, property owners, art-
ists and community organizations quickly adopted and
calibrated the concept for a wide range of purposes. To
be sure, pop-up retail is moving beyond the common
seasonal holiday store and the trendy one-off designer
brand sales event to becoming a sanctioned community
revitalization technique. Main streets with vacant store
fronts, oversized parking lots, and underutilized public
spaces are increasingly being used as local incubators for Melbournes Rebecca Walk features pop-up retail under a rail Viaduct.
Credit: Mike Lydon
a seemingly endless number of temporary to permanent
commercial and community uses.
For example, in Oakland, CA an urban planner
and restaurant owner are collaborating in producing Pop-
uphood, a three-block stretch of short-term lease pop-up
stores intended to revitalize the downtown through new
business incubation. In this way, the pop-up trend re-
flects the new economy where aligning the interests of
property owners and local entrepreneurs is happening in
a more nimble and creative way.
Finally, the interest and public exposure pop-
ups generate by way of their temporary nature provide a
powerful tool for sparking long-term change. Successful
pop-up stores often earn the right to stay, creating a win-
win for the property owner, occupant, and neighborhood.
The solar powered KiosKiosk is a pop-up
store that can be setup almost anywhere.
Credit: KiosKiosk

Tactical 17
URBANISM
The iconic, but temporary changes in Times Square
will be soon be upgraded and made permanent.
Credit: New York City Department of Transportation

Tactical 18
URBANISM
pavement TO plazas
PURPOSE: To reclaim underutilized asphalt as
public space without large capital
expenditure
LEADERS: City Departments
Business Improvement Districts
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: Following the implementation of
the New Times Square pedestrian
plaza, injuries to motorists and their
passengers declined by 63%. Similarly,
pedestrian injuries decreased 35%, even
while pedestrian volumes increased

Pavement to Plaza programs, popularized

recently in New York City, but echoed in cities like San
Francisco, seemingly define sanctioned tactical urbanism. Broadway at Columbus Circle: Before and after.
These interventions typically start by using temporary, Credit: New York City Department of Transportation
inexpensive materials to re-assign excessive motor Putnam Triangle
vehicle space for the use of pedestrians and/or bicyclists.
Because these efforts do not require a large outlay of
capital, public spaces are able to appear almost overnight.
While the city funds the design and the construction,
partners from the local business or advocacy community
are usually asked to operate, maintain, and manage the
new plazas.
Following the immediate closure of Times
Square, the centerpiece of New Yorks highly successful
Greenlight for Midtown street improvement project,
Tim Tompkins of the Times Square Alliance realized
that people might want to sit somewhere. So, he bought
376 folding chairs for $10.74 each and instantly
millions of people have a new way of enjoying the city.
By taking this experimental pilot project
approach using temporary materials, the City and
public-at-large are able to test the performance of each
new plaza without wasting scarce public resources. When
successful, the plazas transition into a more permanent
design and construction phase, which is happening
currently in many of New York Citys first generation of
pilot plazas and sustainable street projects.

Putnam Triangle: Before and after.

Credit: New York City Department of Transportation

Tactical 19
URBANISM
pavement TO parks (PARKLETS)
PURPOSE: To reclaim underutilized asphalt as
public space without large capital
expenditure
LEADERS: Local Restaurants
Municipalities
Transportation Departments
Business Improvement Districts
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: Startup costs for a parklet in San
francisco include a $1,000 application
fee, and a $650 fee for the removal of One of San Franciscos many parklets.
parking meters. A $221 fee is then Credit: flickr user Jeremy Shaw
charged annually. Parallel Park, a
parklet in Vancouver, BC cost
$18,000 to design and construct.

The similar Pavement to Plaza projects carried

out in New York City inspired San Franciscos Pavement
to Parks program. Using many of the same techniques
moveable tables and chairs, painting asphalt, and the in-
stallation of inexpensive planters and re-purposed stone
bocks, municipal officials were able to quickly establish
a formal program that increased the balance of public
space.
The Pavement to Parks program is a collabora-
tive effort between the San Francisco Mayors Office, the
Department of Public Works, the Planning Department,
and the Municipal Transportation Agency. The low- Some parklets feature bicycle parking.
cost parklets are now found in more than 20 locations Credit: flickr user Jeremy Shaw
throughout the city.
As in New York, the City views each parklet as
a laboratory for testing the potential of a more perma-
nently designed public space. The materials are meant to
be temporary and the design malleable should changes
be desired during the trial period.
A typical parklet consists of a platform that sits
flush with the sidewalk. Each one is built in the place
of two or three parking spaces. In most cases, they in-
clude seating and various amounts of greenery and occa-
sionally include bicycle parking and/or tables to serve as
outdoor dining areas for nearby restaurants or cafes. The
cost of constructing a parklet is typically covered by an
individual business or several businesses that recognize
the ability to attract customers. Privately sponsored or
not, parklets are part of the public realm and completely
open to the public at large.
Vancouver, BCs Parallel Park.
Credit: Facebook user Parallel Park

Tactical 20
URBANISM
POP- UP CAFES
PURPOSE: To promote outdoor public seating in
the parking lane (during the warm
months) and to promote local
businesses
LEADERS: City Departments
Local Restaurants
Business Improvement Districts
Local Designers
SCALE: Block || Street
FACT:: Parking spaces used for Pop-Up Cafes
in NYC are leased from the
Department of Transportation
A narrow sidewalk limits the possibility of outdoor seating.
Credit: DNAinfo.com
Inspired by New York Citys Pavement to Pla-
za program, San Francisco began its own Pavement to
Parks effort, which includes parklets (page 19). That riff
on the concept was the imported back to New York an
re-named pop-up cafs, which have become specialized
tactic used where public outdoor seating is sorely needed.
Similar to how things are set up in San Fran-
cisco, New York Citys program requires that the busi-
ness sponsoring the cafe must agree to cover the design,
construction and maintenance costs. If such agreement
is reached, the Citys Department of Transportation pro-
vides technical assistance and may even make street im-
provements, such as applying traffic markings or placing
safety bollards around the cafe.
In cities with a short supply of public space and
a need for more publicly accessible seating, pop-up cafs
Trading parking space for outdoor seating improves the public realm.
are fast becoming a valued addition to the public realm. Credit: DNAInfo.com
When successful, they act as placeholders for a time
when city sidewalks can be permanently expanded. Out-
side of New York City and San Francisco, parklets and
pop-up cafs may be found in Long Beach, Los Angeles,
and Vancouver.

Pop-up cafes are sponsored by private businesses,

but are public spaces open to anyone
Credit: DNAinfo.com

Tactical 21
URBANISM
Depavers assess their work.
Credit: Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian

Tactical 22
URBANISM
DEPAVE

PURPOSE: To reduce storm water pollution and

increase the amount of land available
for habitat restoration, urban farming,
tree planting, native vegetation, and
social gathering
LEADERS: Neighborhood Activists
Non-Profits
SCALE: Lot || Block
FACT: Since 2007, over 700 volunteer
have replaced more than 94,100
square feet of unnecessary asphalt Clear instructions.
Credit: Picasa user DepavePDX
with permeable gardens and
community green space. As a result,
2,221,115 gallons of stormwater is
diverted annually.

While impervious surfaces are a fact of urban life,

the paving of millions of acres contributes to numerous
environmental problems, namely the polluting of our
waterways through stormwater runoff.
Portlands all-volunteer Depave organization
seeks to incrementally reduce stormwater pollution by
surgically removing unnecessary pavement. To do so,
Depave transforms impervious driveways and parking
into community green spaces and gardens that naturally
mitigate stormwater runoff pollution.
Depave began as an unsanctioned, self-organized
neighborhood effort in 2007, but has blossomed into
Depaving in action.
an influential non-profit organization that has received Credit: Picasa user DepavePDX
grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agen-
cy, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,
Patagonia, and the Multnomah Soil and Water Con-
servation Districts. It is also supported by many other
businesses, organizations, government departments and
schools. Depave therefore provides a great example of
how short-term unsanctioned initiatives can become
sanctioned, long-term efforts within a very short amount
of time.
Over the past four years Depave has turned near-
ly 100,000 thousand square feet of parking lots into ex-
panded school yards, community gardens, food forests,
and pocket parks. While this work has reduced millions
of gallons of stormwater runoff, it has also built strong
ties between neighbors and the city in which they live.
If you want learn more, Depave written a helpful
how-to guide describing their process.
The Fargo Forest Garden replaced 3,000 square feet of asphalt.
Credit: Picasa user DepavePDX

Tactical 23
URBANISM
Chairbombing.
Credit: Aurash Khawarzad
Tactical 24
URBANISM
Chair BOMBING
PURPOSE: To improve the social well-being of
neighborhoods by salvaging waste
materials and activating the public
realm.
LEADERS: Community Activists
Local Property Owners
Small Businesses
SCALE: Street || Building
FACT: By taking discarded shipping pallets
and converting them into quality public
seating, the urban waste stream can be
reduced, and streets made more
Collecting discarded shipping pallets.
welcoming. Credit: Ted Ulrich Design

Whether to rest, socialize, or to simply watch the

world go by, increasing the supply of public seating al-
most always makes a street, and by extension, a neigh-
borhood, more livable.
Chairbombing is the act of removing salvage-
able material from the local waste stream, and using it to
build public seating. The entire process of building and
placing the chairs requires attention to the design and
construction, but also a thoughtful approach as to where
they are needed most, and where they would be able to
support existing social activity, or serve as a catalyst for
community gathering.
In general, chair bombing calls attention to the
general lack of public seating in the urban environ-
ment. It also indicates locations where further physical
improvements may be made by a municipality, property Chairs placed adjacent to Brooklyns Blue Bottle Coffee.
Credit: Aurash Khawarzad
owner, retail tenant, and/or other change agents.
Chair placement begins by retrieving discarded
materials such as shipping pallets from dumpsters, con-
struction sites, or other locations where solid waste is
found. The pallets can be disassembled and then reas-
sembled for seating.
DoTank, a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary
collective, has placed chairs in six locations throughout
northern Brooklyn. While the bombings are often done
in conjunction with outdoor events, the first effort has
resulted in permanent seating at Blue Bottle Coffee in
Brooklyns Williamsburg neighborhood.

Permanent seating added by Blue Bottle Coffee.

Credit: Aurash Khawarzad

Tactical 25
URBANISM
food CARTS / TRUCKS
PURPOSE: To provide low cost food, incubate small
businesses, and activate undertutilized
sites.
LEADERS: Entrepreneurs
Municipalities
SCALE: Block || Lot
FACT: Portlands food carts are regulated as
normal restaurants, including semi-
annual inspections. They also pay rent for
the off-street parking spots they occupy.

From construction sites to industrial parks,
hospitals to local neighborhood centers, cities large and Food carts mask surface parking lots in downtown Portland.
Credit: Better Cities & Towns (New Urban Network)
small continue to witness a surge in street food vending
activity.
Long before the Twitter-induced food truck
craze, noted urbanist William H. Whyte acknowledged
that street food is a magnet for human activity. Food carts
and trucks not only stimulate entrepreneurial activity,
they serve a critical role in the activation of the public
realm. Indeed, few people know where people tend to
congregate as well as a good food vendor, as his or her
success relies upon high pedestrian volumes. In turn, a
good food vendor, or groups of vendors quickly become
an additional destination within already successful places
of congregation.
In Portland, Oregon, food carts take on a unique
character. Typically housed in stationary trailers, RVs, or
self-made shacks, the City encourages vendors to cluster
their fare. With each new arrival, each food vendors Food carts line the central square in Seaside, FL.
Credit: Mike Lydon
prosperity often increases. And because they mask
surface parking lots, they activate otherwise harsh street
edges that repel human activity. In many cases, porches,
bar stools and garden seating are added, resulting in an
even more inviting streetscape. Interestingly, Portlands
food carts are regulated as normal restaurants, including
semi-annual inspections. They also pay rent for the off-
street parking spots they occupy. Today, the citys most
successful food cart entrepreneurs are able to move into
more permanent locations, which allows opportunity for
the next operator to take their place in a succession of
small business development.
From Los Angeles to Miami, smart cities not
only lower the barrier to entry, but also nurture such
businesses because they reflect and contribute to the
strength of the local economy, and enhance the citys
sense of place. Vendors activate a park edge in Brunswick, ME
Credit: Mike Lydon

Tactical 26
URBANISM
Site PRE-VITALIZATION
PURPOSE: To temporarily activate a (re)develop-
ment site.
LEADERS: Municipalities
Developers
Citizen Activists
Business Improvement Districts
SCALE: Block || Lot || Building
FACT: Red Barn, the developer behind the
temporary Hercules Market Hall, sees
the project as market research on what
people look for, what they want to eat,
the goods they want, and how long
they will stay for a more permanent The Dekalb Market entrance in downtown Brooklyn
Credit: Mike Lydon
project they call Market Town.

Site Pre-vitalization is the temporary re-activa-

tion of a previously inactive, underutilized parcel of land.
This tactic brings a variety of art, food, and retail uses
to a single location. Typically, this is done to generate
needed revenue for the land owner/developer, raise the
communitys awareness about the sites long-term po-
tential, and to build community while supporting local
entrepreneurs.
Site pre-vitalization uses often include public
markets, art exhibitions and studios, community festivals,
beer gardens, micro-retail opportunities, flea markets,
and other temporary programs capable of pre-vitalizing
a site before more permanent building is possible. By ac-
tivating a site during the planning, approvals, and financ-
ing stages, a vacant site can therefore provide low-cost Proxy is a temporary placeholder for a long-term development plan.
Credit: Inside Scoop SF
community building and economic opportunities while
a more formal transition occurs, from inactive parcel of
land to a fully redeveloped and programmed addition to
the town or city.
Site Pre-vitalization is a relatively new tactic
and one that that is largely a private sector response to
the restrictive commercial lending standards now im-
posed by banks. Thus, the tradeoff between the tempo-
rary usesmarkets, beer gardens, ping-pong tables, art
shows, vegetable growing etc.and the realization of the
final long-term private development has not yet been ad-
dressed. Well be watching this tactic closely as Proxy,
Dekalb Market and others like it move from temporary
installations to permanent development.

Hercules Market.
Credit: Dan Gregory

Tactical 27
URBANISM
The BMW Guggenheim Lab, New York City.
Credit: Bob Arihood
Tactical 28
URBANISM
pop- up TOWN HALL
PURPOSE: To provide a temporary forum for
discussions of civic importance
LEADERS: Philanthropic Organizations
Community Coalitions
Activists
SCALE: Block || Building
FACT: The Guggenheim Lab will travel to
nine major world cities in six years.

A pop-up town hall provides an informal, non-

government sponsored venue for serious civic discourse The BMW Guggenheim Lab site before construction began,
Credit: wallpaper.com
and the exchange of ideas. While pop-up town halls often
make use of underutilized city spaces, such as vacant
lots or storefronts, they can also be held in a myriad of
other venues. Pop-up town halls should capitalize on
locations where a healthy dose of civic discussion is
already occurring; for instance, some pop-up town halls
are organized in tandem with conferences, exhibitions,
festivals and other events.
The BMW Guggenheim Lab captures the
spirit of this tactic. The Lab, which is designed to
temporarily re-imagine an overlooked city space as a
civic forum, is a migratory town hall that is traveling
between nine different cities. The carbon fiber structure
is to be disassembled and reassembled in each of the
nine citiesit is sometimes referred to as a traveling
toolbox.
The objective is to provide a space that brings A temporary cafe was built adjacent to the Lab.
people of many disciplines together brings in a discussion Credit: flickr user archidose
on the future of their city. The organizers of the BMW
Guggenheim Lab call their invention part urban think
thank, part community center, and part public gathering
space which are the basic characteristics of any pop-up
town hall.

Over 100 free events were hosted at the Lab.

Credit: Mike Lydon

Tactical 29
URBANISM
informal BIKE PARKING

PURPOSE: To increase the supply of bicycle

parking where needed.
LEADERS: Community Activists
Local Businesses
Property Owners
SCALE: Street || Block || Building
FACT: Every parked bicycle belongs to a
potential customer.

At the intersection of tactical urbanism

and transportation infrastructure is the creation and
Valet event parking by The Street Plans Collaborative.
installation of informal bike racks. The lack of parking Credit:Mike Lydon
options in many cities is inspiring activists, including
progressive businesses and enlightened property own-
ers, to take it upon themselves to install various types of
temporary and semi-permanent solutions.
Groups like DoTank have built bike racks and
tested them on lamp posts in Williamsburg, with the
intent of providing bike parking while also making a
statement about the citys lack of bicycle parking. Busi-
nesses such as Por Que No? taqueria in Portland, have
also taken it upon themselves to install bike parking in
front of their store as a tactic for attracting and servic-
ing customers from the citys growing bicycle commu-
nity. Finally, property owners, such as Green Desks in
Brooklyns DUMBO neighborhood, have affixed bike
rails directly adjacent to the entrance of the building to
meet growing demand. Small bike rails provide bicycle parking at a popular beer garden.
Credit: Mike Lydon
While not all informal bike racks designs are
practical or secure for long-term use, they do indicate
demand. Smart cities will leave the well-designed racks
alone, while replacing the more poorly conceived tempo-
rary solutions with higher performing city racks.

To meet demand, this property owner installed a long bike rail.

Credit: Ronald Woudstra

Tactical 30
URBANISM
intersection REPAIR

PURPOSE: To repurpose neighborhood street

intersections as community space.
LEADERS: Neighbors
Activists
Community Organizations
Home Owners Associations
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: City Repair and local residents refer
to intersection repair as an exercise
in Village Building. Intersection repair is a placemaking and community building tactic.
Credit: Flickr user Sara Dent

Intersection repair reclaims neighborhood streets

as public gathering places. The initiative first began in
Portland, OR and continues to be stewarded by City
Repair, a local placemaking group.
While the brightly painted intersections
communicate to drivers that they are entering a place of
neighborhood importance, its the process of making and
maintaining the repaired intersections that matters most.
Indeed, once the initial reclamation occurs, neighbors
often take it upon themselves to further enhance their
new public gathering place with benches, community
bulletin boards, gardens and art positioned prominently
at the corners. In some cases, less temporary paint has
given way to bricks and cobblestones.
While the design elements are important,
An intersection repair project in Los Angeles, CA.
repaired intersections encourage neighbors to interact Credit: Los Angeles Eco-Village Blog
more frequently and give them a nearby place to care
about outside their homes.
Intersection repair provides another great
example of how tactical urbanism initiatives move along
the continuum, from unsanctioned activity to a fully
sanctioned program. Unsurprisingly, Portlands Bureau
of Transportation did not initially allow intersection
repair. Regardless, communities continued to transform
implement them anyway. As is the case with many
unsanctioned tactics, the City no longer stands in the
way. In fact, the Bureau of Transportation has an official
City Repair liaison. This liaison helps coordinate the
permitting, street closures, and oversees some of the
designs to aid in the success of each project.
Intersection repair projects may now be found in
communities across the United States. This is what an intersection repair master plan looks like.
Credit: Sara Dent

Tactical 31
URBANISM
A billboard turned swingset.
Credit: Broken City Lab
Tactical 32
URBANISM
ad - BUSTING
PURPOSE: To reduce visual pollution within the
public realm.
LEADERS: Activists
Municipal Leaders
SCALE: Corridor || Block || Building
FACT: Citizens of So Paulo were amazed
at the architecture of their city once
billboards blocking building facades
were removed.

In 2007, one of Brazils largest cities adopted a

radical ban on outdoor advertising. So Paulos Lei
Cidade Limpa or Clean City Law was a project led by What if...
Credit: This is Not an Ad
mayor Gilberto Kassab and gave the world an example of
what a major city could look like without being overrun
by advertising.
In the United States, marketing and advertising
has pervaded the public realm to such a degree that ac-
tivists and civil servants have begun to develop and im-
plement creative tactics combating the daily onslaught of
consumerism. While the goal of ad-busting is to improve
the aesthetic quality of public spaces, it also sends the
message that the public realm should not be used un-
abashedly for the selling and consumption of commer-
cial products.
Groups such as the Public Ad Campaign and
DoTank have developed physical methods of altering
existing ads to reflect a different messageone that
highlights local art and/or community events and assets.
DoTanks digital community billboard project, called Ad-busting.
Credit: Credit: This is Not an Ad
WeSee.Us, allowed passersby to anonymously submit
live photos from their smart phones. The submitted pho-
tos were displayed in real-time on an empty billboard,
which allowed individuals to share their own visuals with
the community at large.
The advertising content generated during the
WeSee.Us installation quickly became community ori-
ented, focusing on the people and events taking place in
the neighborhood rather than on the products corpora-
tions urge us to buy.

The WeSee.Us installation.

Credit: Aurash Khawarzad

Tactical 33
URBANISM
reclaimed SETBACKS
PURPOSE: To create a more engaging streetscape
by activating the space between the
structure and the sidewalk.
LEADERS: Property Owners
Activists
SCALE: Lot
FACT: Most municipal zoning codes require
setbacks between the street and the
primary structure, which often creates
awkward and underutilized semi-
public spaces.

Setback reclamations intentionally activate the Free poems make for an engaging experience
in this Streamboat, CO neighborhood.
underutilized, semi-public space found between the pub- Credit: Mike Lydon
lic right-of-way (typically the sidewalk) and a property
owners principal structure. The distances are uniformly
mandated in municipal zoning codes and homeowner as-
sociations often limit their use beyond ornament. Awk-
ward setback distances of 20 feet or more are especially
common in single-family neighborhoods built after the
1920s. Increased setback distances broke the traditional
relationship between street, building, and building owner.
As a result, most social activity is found in the backyard,
not the front.
Setback reclamations range from illegal struc-
ture extensions to temporary programming to commu-
nity gardening. Such tactics help diminish the real and
perceived distances found between the structure and the
sidewalk. If done well, reclamations can effectively cre-
ates a more engaging and social neighborhood street en-
vironment. Front setbacks provide a perfect opportunity to grow food.
Credit: flickr user Shira Golding

Tactical 34
URBANISM
park MOBILE
PURPOSE: To add more neighborhood green
space and to further activate streets
with public seating.
LEADERS: City Departments
Business Owners
Business Improvement Districts
Neighborhood Organizations
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: Each parkmobile costs approximately
$6,000.

One of the most appropriate uses of tacti-

cal urbanism is to jumpstart the implementation of Parkmobiles are, well, mobile.
Credit: Dwell via Miyoko Ohtake
long-term vision plans. Parkmobiles, designed by San
Franciso-based CMG Landscape Architecture, were
installed in the summer of 2011. They are a direct re-
sponse to the neighborhoods desire for more green
space, as voiced in San Franciscos Yerba Buena Street
Life strategic plan. Fashioned from custom dumpsters,
each parkmobile fits within a single vehicular parking
space and contributes to a vision and road map for
a next generation of public space in the Yerba Buena
District. Other initiatives featured in the plan include
widened sidewalks, mid-block crossings, and the tacti-
cal conversion of alleys into plazas or shared streets.
At present there are six parkmobiles being
moved periodically around the neighborhood. Each
unit contains a different type of vegetation, including
Tasmanian Tree Ferns, Strawberry Trees, Yuccas, and
shrubs that attract birds and butterflies. In doing so, A parkmobile located outside of SPURs urban center.
Credit: Dwell via Miyoko Ohtake
they highlight the importance of an agreeable pedes-
trian experience and recognize the importance that
vegetation and seating play in creating an attractive
environment for pedestrians.
Overall, the initiative pays homage to San
Franciscos longstanding tactical tradition of improv-
ing the larger urban landscape in small and fluid ways.

A parkmobile working as intended.

Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times.

Tactical 35
URBANISM
 tactic NAME
FAST FACT: blah blah blah

LEADERS: blah, blah, blah

SCALE: City || District || Corridor ||
Street || Block || Building
PURPOSE: blah, blah, blah

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah...

Weed bombing on an overgrown corner in downtown

Miami (Not photoshopped).
Credit: Grant Stern
Tactical 36
URBANISM
weed BOMBING
PURPOSE: To draw attention to blighted
neighborhoods and to incite action in
cleaning them up.
LEADERS: Neighborhood Associations
Artists
Activists
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: Weed bombing began in Miami, FL
under the cover of darkness, but sheds
light on public and private property
negligence.

Weed bombing is the act of converting overgrown Weed bombing can make overgrowth look more like flowers.
Credit: Kerry McLaney
weeds into works of street art. Inspired by other forms
of tactical bombings, downtown Miami resident and
business owner, Brad Knoefler enlisted other neigborhood
activists and artists to spray paint weeds in bright colors.
Knoefler, who is also the founder of the Omni Parkwest
Redevelopment Association (OPRA), is a vocal critic of
the various large-scale redevelopment plans slated for his
Omni Parkwest, and the lack of maintenance efforts. He
is also known to take action into his own hands. We
used to cut the weeds ourselves, say Knoefler, but its
much more beneficial to beautify them and convert them
into street art. Unlike traditional graffiti, weed bombing
doesnt damage private or public property and has
immediate benefits to our quality of life.
While Knoefler undertook the effort in creative
protest, hes found little resistance from the city and
downtown development authority. Still, according to one A weed bomb just north of downtown Miami.
Credit: Kerry McLaney
newspaper article, Knoefler plans to keep bombing the
weeds until a more concerted, sanctioned city effort is
made.

Weed bombs highlight disparities in where public

and private maintenance dollars are spent.
Credit: Kerry McLaney

Tactical 37
URBANISM
Mobile VENDORS
PURPOSE: To offer needed commercial services,
activate public spaces, and help citizens
earn income.
LEADERS: Micro-Entrepreneurs
SCALE: Street || Block
FACT: Street Vendors selll a variety of goods
besides food, including art,
photographs, clothing and various
other merchandise. Vending is often a
second source of income for urban
households.

There is nothing more tactical than helping This Brooklyn newspaper vendor sets up a mobile stand every morning
by the Clinton-Washington subway entrance on Fulton Street.
small-scale entrepreneurs get a footing in the local econ- Credit: Mike Lydon
omy. As with food carts, small-scale street vendors at-
tract people, fill small commercial voids, and help give
life to public spaces. Overseas, and increasingly in North
American cities, inventive street vendors are using a vari-
ety of low-cost mobile means to transport and sell their
wares. Bicycles in particular have become quite popular
in some cities. Hiroyuki Shinohara, a Japanese architect
has conducted a study of the various roles bicycle-based
vending plays in the streets of Chinese cities. He found
that bicycles were being used as mobile bookshops, ice
cream vending stations, mobile garbage collectors, and
even as mobile water tanks.
Because vendors play a key role in animating the
various spaces of a city, municipal governments should
make regulations simple, clear, and readily available in
multiple languages. The Center for Urban Pedagogys
Vending Power! A Guide to Vending in New York City does The vendor stores his newstand in the basement
entrance of a nearby apartment building
a fantastic job explaining the citys confusing mobile Credit: Mike Lydon
vending regulations to a wide audience of current and
future vendors. Vending Power! A Guide to Street Vending in New York City
Credit: Candy Chang/Center for Urban Pedagogy

Tactical 38
URBANISM
Micro- MIXING
PURPOSE: Too incubate new businesses and
sustain existing ones through the
co-location of mutually supportive
uses.
LEADERS: Entrepreneurs
Property Owners
Business Improvement Districts
SCALE: Block || Building
FACT: The simplest form of retail micro-
mixing is the coffee shop inside the
book store, something corporations
figured out long ago.
Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop
Credit: Panoramio user chachafish
By mixing multiple businesses in a single retail
space, micro-mixing provides entrepreneurial shop
owners an opportunity to mitigate the high overhead
costs associated with opening a new venture. This tactical
retailing technique combines complimentary uses and
activities that can be used by existing retailers as well as
cooperative and startup incubator spaces. The best use of
the micro-mixing technique can create some of the most
exciting and memorable shopping experiences.
The success of large format bookstores in the
1990s and 2000s illustrated the mutually beneficial
relationship that exists between a coffee shop and a
bookstore. These two uses together, a latte and a new
book, seem to fit together naturally.
Today, more unconventional and perhaps more
exciting mixes are emerging. In Denver, Salvagetti
Bicycle Workshop has included an espresso bar on its Happy Coffee Espresso Window
sales floor. In New York, Barbershops are selling clothing, Credit: Jonathan Shikes

and jewelry stores are selling Vietnamese sandwiches. In

Providence, a craft co-op store is running a gallery out of
the back of house space and a coffee shop is selling potted
plants and gardening supplies. All of these operators are
creatively maximizing the return on their spaces floor
area by working together with complimentary retailers.
At its core, micro-mixing is a buddy system
economic development strategy that helps small businesses
grow incrementally. By using clever merchandising and
efficient space planning, existing retail spaces can quickly
be adapted to handle multiple users or businesses. Thus,
micro-mixing provides an easy opportunity to test new
ideas. If successful, micro-mixing tenants can one day
strike out on their own.

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URBANISM
The construction of Grand Central Park took one month.
Credit: Grand Central Park
Tactical 40
URBANISM
Park- MAKING
PURPOSE: To increase the supply of park
space by quickly reclaiming
undertutilized parcels of vacant land
and parking lots.
LEADERS: Activists
Artists
City Departments
Business Improvement Districts
Neighborhood Organizations
SCALE: Lot || Block
FACT: Miamis Grand Central Park is a In Miami, Biscyane Boulevards medians are dedicated parking lots.
Credit: Ana Bikic
five-acre park that was built in
30 days.

While its exciting that the tactic of PARK(ing)

Day has led to the development of parklets and pavement
to plazas programs, larger public spaces are still needed
in many urban neighborhoods. A new response to this
challenge is the tactic of park-making, which utilizes the
techniques of PARK(ing) Day and deploys them at a
larger scale. In Miami, FL, local activists are partnering
with private sector companies and government entities to
transform some of the citys most overlooked opportunity
sites into sizeable parks.
The 5-acre Grand Central Park, pictured at left,
is the brainchild of the Miamis most notorious Weed Biscayne Parkway transformed one parking lot into a park.
Bomber, Brad Knoefler (see pgs 36-37). Knoefler, and Credit: Ana Bikic
his colleagues at the Omni Parkwest Redevelopment
Association (OPRA) took it upon themselves to
transform the former Miami Arena site into a much
needed park space. After securing a local grant, OPRA
procured pro bono landscape design services and signed a
multi-year lease with the property owner. Fees generated
from programmed events, concerts, and food vendors
will sustain the maintenance of the park and pay the
lease obligation. Built in early 2012, and in just 30 days,
the park has already been a huge success.
Building on this model is Bayfront Parkway,
a one-week installation led by Street Plans and the
engineering firm C3TS. While several a downtown
plans have called for transforming Biscayne Boulevards
median parking lots into a green doorstep for downtown
Miami, action has never been taken...until now. At the
time of publication, the one-block park intervention
is currently underway and generating support from
stakeholders to follow through with the long-term park
plan. Biscayne Parkways exercise equipment is a popular attraction.
Credit: Ana Bikic

Tactical 41
URBANISM
CAMPS
PURPOSE: To create or take part in the temporary
occupation of space, often with an eye
toward creating permanent change.
LEADERS: Activists
Protesters
Refugees
Government
NGOs
SCALE: Lot || Building || Block || District

FAST FACT: In his book Camps: A Guide to 21st Occupy Camp.

Credit:Chuck Wolfe
Century Space, author Charlie Hailey
organizes 103 types of camps into three
broad categories: Autonomy, Control,
and Neccessity.

Whether for protest, military action, recreation,
or necessary shelter, camps provide a ubiquitous cross-
cultural reference, and not just one of outdoor occupation.
While pervasive the cultural understanding of camps hifts
on an almost daily basis. The much debated meaning of
the Occupy movement is one of our most recent examples.
According to Hailey, the process of urbanization
often begins with informal camps that eventually move
along a continuum, from temporary to permanent, from
being unsanctioned to sanctioned places of habitation. By
their nature, camps capably adapt to various conditions
and therefore serve well in the transitonal phases of
A park in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti before the earthquake.
development. In this way, the connections between camp Credit:New York Times.
and city is nothing new. Indeed, many of the worlds great
cities began as Roman military camp outposts, including
Vienna, Barcelona, and Prague. A less sexy example is
that of the trailer park where the possibility of mobility
is often a misnomermobile homes dont usually move,
they evolve over time and very much stay rooted in place.
Camps of all types, demonstrate how the short-
term action of temporarily occupying space, often leads
to incremental, permanent change.

Same park in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti as post-earth quake relief camp.

Credit: New York Times
SHARE YOUR TACTICS!
This tactical urbanism survey includes several strategies employed by individuals, local community groups, and
municipalities. However, its by no means exhaustive. The Tactical Urbanism Project is only going to get better
through reader contributions. If you or someone you know has an addition to make or would like to organize a
Tactical Urbanism Salon, please EMAIL INFO@STREETPLANS.ORG or share it on the Tactical Urbansim Facebook
page.

The Tatical Urbanists decision tree.

Credit: Fast Company

Tactical 43
URBANISM
 ...in order to do something big, to think globally and
act globally, one starts with something small and one
starts where it counts. Practice, then, is about making the
ordinary special and the special more widely accessible
expanding the boundaries of understanding and possibility
with vision and common sense. It is about building densely
interconnected networks, crafting linkages between
unlikely partners and organizations, and making plans
without the usual preponderance of planning. It is about
getting it right for now and at the same time being tactical
and strategic about later. This is not about forecasting,
nor about making decisions about the future. But it is
about the long range, about making sure that one plus one
equals two or three, about being politically connected and
grounded, and about disturbing the order of things in the
interests of change.

- Nabeel Hamdi
Author, Small Change: About the Art of Practice and the Limits of Planning in Cities
Sources
TACTICAL URBANISM FOOD CARTS
The Street Plans Collaborative Portland Food Carts
Pattern Cities The Architectural Maturation of
Tactical Urbanism Salon Portland Food Carts
The Interventionists Toolkit
Tactical Urbanism Facebook page SITE PRE-VITALIZATION
Grist Dekalb Market
The New York Times Proxy
The Atlantic Cities Hercules Market: What Comes
More Grist Next?
Box Park Shoreditch
OPEN STREETS
The Open Streets Project POP-UP TOWN HALL
BMW Guggenheim Lab
PLAY STREETS
NYC Play Streets INTERSECTION REPAIR
Play Street Becomes a Sanctuary City Repair
Reclaiming The Residential Street Streetfilm
As Play Space
AD-BUSTING
PARK(ING) DAY Public Ad Campaign
Parkingday.org
PARK MOBILE
BUILD A BETTER BLOCK New Forms of Public Space:
Build a Better Block Parkmobile
Fort Worth Better Block Project
A New Face for an Old Broad WEED BOMBING
Weed Bombing
GUERRILLA GARDENING
Guerilla Gardening.org MOBILE VENDORS
Wikipedia The Street Vendor Project
Custom Bike Urbanism
PAVEMENT TO PLAZAS
NYC Plaza Program MICRO-MIXING

PAVEMENT TO PARKS PARK-MAKING

Pavement to Parks Program Bayfront Parkway
POP-UP CAFES CAMPS
NYC DOT Pop-UP Cafes Camps: A Guide to 21st Century
Space
CHAIR BOMBING
DoTank

POP-UP RETAIL
Trendwatching

DEPAVE
Depave
Streetfilms: Depaving Day!

Tactical 45
URBANISM
A project of Lockes Department of Urban Betterment.
Credit: Design Taxi Tactical 46
URBANISM
Tactical
LIBRARY
How
to

Your Guide to
1 Planning
Site Plan
Call Before You Dig
neighbors and Permits
Reuse and Disposal
Possible Soil Contamination

2 Tool SeleCTion
Safety First
Hand Tools
Power Tools

3 BReaking!
Conventional Techniques
natural Techniques

4 Soil ReHaBiliTaTion/ReSToRaTion
Raised Beds
Removing and Replacing Soil
Utilizing Plants to Break up Soil
Phytoremediation

5 PoRTlanD ReSoURCeS

THE
Introduction:
The Ideas Behind PARK(ing) Day

PARK(ing)
The vast majority of outdoor urban space is dedicated
to the private vehicle, while only a fraction of that land
is allocated to open space for people.

DAY
In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking
results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution. The strategies
and values that generate these conditions are no longer sustainable,
nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant urban human habitat.1 Its time

MANUAL
to rethink the way streets are used and to re-imagine the possibilities of
the urban landscape!

A metered parking spot is an inexpensive short-term lease for a plot of

precious urban real estate. What is the range of possibilities for creativity
in a space usually dedicated to the storage of a private vehicle?

Motivated by the desire to activate the metered parking space as a

site for creative experimentation, political and cultural expression, and
A Primer on User-Generated Urbanism unscripted social interaction, Rebar offers PARK(ing) Day as a prototype
and Temporary Tactics for Improving the for open-source urban design, accessible to all. In response, thousands
Public Realm of people around the globeworking independently of Rebar but
guided by common core principleshave created hundreds of PARK
installations and formed an annual international event.

Urban inhabitants worldwide recognize the need for new approaches

to making the urban landscape, and realize that converting small
segments of the automobile infrastructureeven temporarilycan
alter the character of the city. From public parks to free health clinics,
from art galleries to demonstration gardens, PARK(ing) Day participants
have claimed the metered parking space as a rich new territory for
creative experimentation and activism.

The event continues to expand virally, over the Internet and by word of
mouth. Since its inception in 2005, PARK(ing) Day has blossomed into a
global experiment in remixing, reclaiming and reprogramming vehicular
space for social exchange, recreation and artistic expression. The project

1 See Donald Shoup, The High Cost of Free Parking, (Amer. Planning Assn., 2011)

Tactical 47
URBANISM
t Term Action // Long Term Change
LON on OCTOBER 15 2011 TH

ng the CONGRESS OF COLLECTIVES

ONG ISLAND CITY, NYC 39-31 29th St., Queens NY
Flux Factory

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