Tactical urban planning: an alternative for humanizing spaces.

Abstract

Institutional urban planning, whose tools have become obsolete and out of step with the reality of the
city, is no longer able to meet citizens' demands and aspirations for urban quality of life. Openness to
the world, through the influence of new information and communication technologies, and widespread
access to social networks, have provoked a culture shock; in other words, citizens' perception of space
has changed radically, along with their practices and uses of it. Moreover, faced with elected
representatives who have no plans for their cities, and given the immobility of governance with regard
to a real takeover and enhancement of urban space, citizen improvisation is proliferating. It is in this
context that tactical urban planning or "pop-up urbanism" can provide a proven alternative for
realizing the citizens' desire to improve the quality of urban space. In short, new situations and
ambiences will have to be thought through as part of citizen action to create a better urban
environment. Tactical urban planning has now been adopted in several Latin American countries, as
well as in Europe. Recently theorized by Mark Lydon and Anthony Garcia, its slogan is "Short-term
action for long-term change".