SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/130442
Tactical Urbanists Promise Changing Landscapes for Changing Times by Scott Schinder O potential, and to provoke next steps on stalled projects and gather more useful input from the public." In 2007, Jurca helped to create the CUDC's Pop Up City initiative, which creates temporary events and installations designed to bring attention to some of Cleveland's underutilized properties. "We recognized that in a depopulating city like Cleveland, permanent development projects and a critical mass of urban activity aren't possible in all places at the same time," Jurca states. "So we craft magical, ephemeral experiences that demonstrate how vacancy can be an opportunity for envisioning the future city we want to create. "The intervention," Jurca explains, "can serve as a three-dimensional concept sketch for different groups to visit and debate its merits, before significant financial and political capital is invested. We've found that some concepts wouldn't be approved by officials as permanent but were given the green light as temporary interventions. A window of opportunity is thereby created for testing the idea under real-world conditions, potentially convincing decision-makers to make the experiment permanent." For example, in 2009, the CUDC, in partnership with arts entrepreneur James Levin, temporarily transformed the lower level of Cleveland's Detroit-Superior Bridge—a three-quarter-mile space had been largely vacant since streetcar service was discontinued in 1954— into a public venue incorporating pedestrian walkways and bike lanes. That weekend-long event attracted over 8,000 visitors, and helped to convince the city to commit to permanently renovating the space for public usage. Jace Deloney, the City of Austin's Urban Transportation Commissioner and a longtime urban activist, views tactical urbanism as a tool that is equally useful for civic planning, artistic expression and political activism. "The real power of tactical urbanism," Deloney says, "is that it seeks to bring all of these communities together. A lot of times, we get stuck talking to the same group of people about the same issues. Tactical urbanism helps bridge these gaps by challenging these groups to work together to achieve small-scale change. The possibilities are truly endless. "To me, tactical urbanism is about giving our citizens, elected officials and bureaucrats a choice to help make a positive change in our urban environment," he continues. "Real change in our communities comes from dedicated people with a common interest. One of the major reasons I became involved in urban issues in Austin is because I wanted to reconnect people to one another and empower them to change their environment. "I think the concept of tactical urbanism should be taught to every student in America," Deloney concludes. "If we're going to stay competitive this century, we will need to teach people how to synthesize diverse concepts and fields of study. Not only do we need to teach kids about the non-static nature of our world, we need to encourage them to be part of that change." ■ AARON ROGASIN f the many forward-thinking concepts that have been showcased during SXSW Eco, the city- and citizen-motivated movement known as tactical urbanism—sometimes called "hacking the city"—has emerged as a powerful force, exercising an increasing influence on cities in North America and beyond. Tactical urbanism refers to the temporary alteration of public spaces. This can be done in partnership with city officials to allow municipalities to assess the practicality of proposed projects before committing large sums of money to them. Alternatively, the term can be applied to a guerrilla exercise for artistic impact, or to activist statements, done in order to make sociopolitical points. Whatever their goals, tactical urbanism projects generally focus on repurposing areas that are underutilized. For instance, several cities have SXSW Eco light garden installation at Republic Square during SXSW. hosted parking days, in which metered parking spaces are turned into temporary mini-park spaces. Others have seen the temporary creation of block parties, cafes, food courts, gardens, green spaces, art galleries and kid-friendly areas in order to encourage broader community usage of neglected city spaces. San Francisco, New York, Boston and Memphis—where a recent weekend transformation of several vacant commercial blocks drew 15,000 people—have emerged as hotbeds of tactical urbanism, with some notable successes that have resulted in substantial public and private investments in revitalizing disused spaces and depressed communities. The movement's emphasis on achievable goals, community involvement and easily replicable tactics has helped to make tactical urbanism an international phenomenon, present in small communities as well as in cities. "The value of tactical urbanism as a tool is derived from its flexibility," says David Jurca, Associate Director at Kent State's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, who spoke at SXSW Eco in 2012 about some of the CUDC's initiatives. "It can be used for a number of purposes, by a variety of agents. In our work at the CUDC, we've applied smallscale urban tactics to challenge common perceptions regarding a space's 38 S X S W O R L D / M AY 2 0 1 3 SXSW Eco 2013 will be held October 7-9 at the Austin Convention Center. This year the conference is launching its new public space design competition Place by Design. For more information, visit sxsweco.com.