Dear Reader: Over the past decade Tactical Urbanism has become an international movement, bringing about a profound shift in how communities think about project development and delivery. Government agencies and advocacy organizations have produced many useful documents exploring case studies or providing guidance about how an iterative approach can be applied to planning and design projects. (See some of our favorites on the previous page!) Highlights include: »» The NACTO Urban Street Design Guide, which provides high-level recommendations about interim street designs, which can be used to quickly address street safety concerns and deliver public space benefits. »» The 2016 PeopleForBikes publication Quick Builds for Better Streets, which outlines nine key ingredients for a successful quick-build projects. »» Guides created at the local level, to create a structure for livable streets programs enabling cities to work with partner organizations to create new types of public spaces, such as pedestrian plazas, parklets, and more. »» Toolkits for creating short-term demonstration projects, such as Trailnet’s Pop-up Traffic Calming How-to Guide and the MemFIX Manual, with practical tools for re-imagining neighborhood street and public space design. As Tactical Urbanism researchers and practitioners, we’ve heard time and again that what is needed now is more guidance about design, materials, and process for both citizen and city-led projects. Our book Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change (2015, Island Press) includes a “How-to” chapter with high level guidance on how to approach a Tactical Urbanism project. But, we often receive questions about the nitty gritty: tricks for creating easily removable pavement markings for demonstration projects, when to pick traffic tape over spray chalk or paint. Of course, project location, context, and budget are major variables in determining the best approach to materials / design, and creativity should be encouraged. Indeed, the absence of formalized design guidelines for Tactical Urbanism projects (especially at the 1 day - 1 month time interval) has contributed to an exciting level of materials experimentation. We’ve undertaken this research project to share more details about the best of what we and others have learned through real-world testing. We hope that this guide provides a snapshot of innovation to date, and encourages more! Sincerely, The Street Plans Collaborative Team
The images on the facing page are examples of our work, and the work we’ve found most helpful from other leaders in the fast-growing, Tactical Urbanism movement. For additional background resources, visit: tacticalurbanismguide.com