Tactical urbanism was once an edgy concept. It called for urban guerillas to ignore the usual bureaucracy and take matters into their own hands with pop-up attractions and hastily installed public art.
Turns out the idea was so good that major cities are making tactical urbanism part of their official policy.
In Indianapolis, IN, a new tactical urbanism project is set up along a busy neighborhood street. The aim is to slow traffic and improve pedestrian and vehicle safety.
To guide such projects, the city has a lengthy tactical urbanism policy that outlines the use of such materials as straw bales and sandbags. Indianapolis even created a tactical urbanism lending library, offering community groups free access to traffic cones, water barriers, and paint.
Some successful interventions have even led to permanent changes.
More on tactical urbanism appears regularly in the pages of Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter.
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