Will the health crisis bring us into the era of tactical urbanism?
Under normal circumstances, it is relatively difficult to make radical changes in our cities. We rarely see a motor vehicle lane being reallocated to soft mobilities overnight. One of the first obstacles to this urban disruption is the people’s inability to imagine other ways of functioning. To overcome it, it has to be tried out, has to be experimented, but here again, there are many obstacles. At a time [coronavirus confinement] when everyone is wondering whether the changes we are seeing happen during the health crisis are sustainable or not, we trying to approach the subject of urban disruption could be a good idea. Because today, changes are being considered, and that is already a big step.
Many see a connection between tactical planning and new facilities or urban modifications that occur during containment. Let’s take a closer look!
Tactical urbanism or how to disrupt our cities
Tactical urbanism is a model of urban intervention based on 3 pillars: small-scale, low-cost and temporary, theorized by Mark Lyndon in Tactical Urbanism: Short Term Action, Long Term Change (2011). This practice proposes the temporary installation of installations or more simply modifications in public space. As Lyndon’s title points out, this is primarily a short-term approach, but its aim is actually much more ambitious. Questioning the allocation of roads or the use of a public space, tactical urban planning is intended to make demands and is a real tool for imagining other possible futures.
One of the founding actions of the movement is that of the Rebar collective in San Francisco, at the origin of the, now global, Parking Day initiative, initiated in 2005. Rebar calls for the reappropriation of parking spaces for one day. This initiative, which questions the car’s hold on public spaces, is now being replicated here in France. Installation of a bubble pool, a picnic area, an artistic installation, … So many elements that are able to reinvent these asphalt spaces of 2.5 by 5 meters! Behind these installations, programmed to last only 24 hours, a real and long-term claim. Passers-by thus have the opportunity to imagine what a city less car-oriented could be like. Glimpses of possible futures that could, once the event is over, still be desired. The simplicity of the actions therefore in no way detracts from their transformative power!
During our Canadian trip, we came across many other examples, including in Toronto. Faced with the lack of street furniture and with the idea that streets are not just a means to get from point A to point B, young urban planners launched #SitTO in 2016. This initiative consisted of clandestinely installing folding chairs in public spaces, the mobility of these chairs allowing Torontonians to move them around as they wish. This real exercise in appropriation of the city provided valuable information on the needs and opportunities in terms of installing chairs or benches in public spaces, notably through the publication of photos of the chairs on twitter with the #SitTO hashtag, which allowed the location and layout of these installations to be shared. Here again, the objective is to stimulate reflection and inspiration through a temporary, low-cost, small-scale intervention.
Containment or how to live the city differently
The pandemic that is hitting us is forcing cities around the world to adapt. Everywhere on the blue planet, we are forced to reduce our lifestyles, to distance ourselves from others, to adapt our living space. As the crisis is not part of the normal functioning of our cities, we are encouraged to reflect on the functions of different urban spaces. It makes us imagine and experiment de facto with other possibilities.
Until then, the primary function of a majority of streets was motor vehicle traffic. The restrictions imposed have led to a temporary change in this function: massive teleworking, suspension of activities and lack of travel have incredibly reduced the flow of vehicles. These spaces can therefore be reinvented for other purposes: containment can lead us to redefine the use of traffic lanes!
City dwellers also need space to be able to ventilate while respecting the rules of social distancing. This is why American cities such as Boston and Oakland have closed several stretches of road to open them to pedestrians and bicycles, thus relieving congestion in parks. Able to accommodate social distancing and adapted to travel within a restricted area, cycling has never been so fashionable! These events have made cities experiment with the large-scale use of bicycles: with the health crisis affecting us, temporary bicycle paths are springing up all over the world. Whether through temporary demarcation with the help of bicycle blocks, widening an existing bicycle path or closing streets to traffic. In France, cities such as Montpellier and Toulouse, among others, have already started doing so.
While many articles link these bicycle paths and other ephemeral installations to tactical urbanism, we find that, in these interventions, the significant bottom-up dimension of this movement is missing. For us, the very essence of tactical urbanism lies precisely in the fact that it is driven by citizens. However, the ephemeral and frugal nature of these interventions (explained by the constraint of being rapidly deployed during containment) justifies the link. And just as tactical urbanism, these actions open up a discussion on possible future developments. Let’s hope to see new traffic plans, more open to soft mobility, will emerge !
But are things really going to change?
The current situation forces us to live differently, to change our habits; confinement hinders the usual functioning of cities and our lives. But it leaves us to imagine different futures by demonstrating that yes, we can live differently! Many articles and people have explored these new possible futures. But will things really change?
This unprecedented experience can be a real opportunity for us! We believe that change can take place at the individual level: through the adoption of new habits such as the choice to support our local ecosystems, to rethink how we travel or to work more from home. Perhaps tomorrow we will prefer walking or cycling rather than using public transports.
Perhaps tomorrow we will seek to reduce our area of daily activities.
Perhaps tomorrow we will attach more importance to neighbourhood life, to knowing our neighbors, …
All these “maybes” lead us to think that yes, tomorrow there may be change! A change may be individual at first, but in the long term it could lead to collective change. At least that is what we dare to hope for.
