Seattle Design Festival by Trevor Dykstra (flickr)

Cities across the world use tactical urbanism to create engaging and active streetscapes. Reclaiming streets for pedestrians; activating parks and plazas with sculptures, seating, and plants; and making room for urban play — these are just some ways that urban design can spark joy. These action-oriented approaches are relatively quick and innovative means of enriching cities without permanently changing urban infrastructure.

Tactical urbanism looks different across the world. Cities’ distinct geographies, histories, uses, and demographics guide how design interventions are executed in specific neighborhoods. The most meaningful and successful projects are ones that consider how people currently use a space and the barriers that stop them from fully enjoying it. Artists, urban planners, and local governments in countries around the globe use strategic design to improve the look and feel of public spaces and even influence community relations within cities.

Superkilen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Superkilen Urban Park (Arquitectura Viva)

Superkilen Urban Park was one piece of a greater urban development project for Copenhagen’s district of Nørrebro, an ethnically diverse neighborhood in northeast Copenhagen that was experiencing gang violence, cultural alienation, and tension between immigrants and Danish authorities in the 2000s. The city of Copenhagen and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), in collaboration with Superflex Landscape Architects and Topotek1, embarked on a project to transform the public realm in an effort to ease these social challenges. The area was divided into three parts: an activity zone (The Red Square), a meeting point (The Black Market), and a leisure area (The Green Park) to create distinct spaces for various urban activities.

Superkilen’s seven-acre park divided into three zones (The Urbanist)

Danish artists and landscape designers thoughtfully engaged community members in the design process. The project had a unique mission of using the built environment to mitigate the social and cultural strife taking place around the city. The vision was to design a dynamic, culturally inspired public space that mirrored Nørrebro’s diversity to foster a sense of belonging, acceptance, and unity. Designers had community members name objects they missed from their home countries and suggest ideas for improving their own neighborhood. At the end of the project’s community engagement period, a total of 108 objects and 11 trees were sourced for the site, including a Moroccan fountain, Brazilian benches, a Kazakh bus stop, a Japanese play structure, and a Thai boxing ring. These international elements transformed the area into a garden of global diversity where neighbors can connect, children can play, and visitors can marvel.

The Vancouver Laneway Project

The Vancouver Laneway Project, launched in 2012, seeks to revitalize the city’s laneways through community-led interventions and activations. Local residents, artists, and businesses take the lead on transforming neglected laneways into vibrant community hubs through temporary art installations, pop-up markets, outdoor performances, and landscaping improvements.

Prior to this initiative, many of Vancouver’s laneways were poorly lit and vacant spaces that discouraged connections between businesses and community spaces. Together, the City of Vancouver, the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, and HCMA Architecture and Design transform laneways into active, accessible components of Vancouver streetscapes, creating more “people-places” throughout the city.

Alley-Oop, Vancouver, BC, Canada (Projects for Public Spaces)

Alley-Oop was Vancouver’s first laneway reimagined by murals. Vibrant colors brighten the dim alley between central Vancouver and the financial district, turning this corridor into an aisle for urban play — but the impact doesn’t stop there. This kind of vibrant redesign prompts people to not only explore the site, but share pictures and videos of their experiences online, gaining social media traction and boosting visitation. After one year, Alley-Oop and neighboring streets saw a 200 percent increase in foot traffic. This project serves as a prime example of how tactical improvements can spark a new wave of economic development and engagement that supports local business districts.

The Playable City

The Playable City is a global initiative that explores how playful public space interventions can combat the isolation and obscurity of some urban environments, shaping a new future of cities. Over the past 10 years, cities across the world including Bristol, Tokyo, Melbourne, Lagos, São Paulo, and Austin have showcased creative urban installations using technology.

“Shadowing” (The Playable City)

“Shadowing” is a creative project where streetlights record and replay the shadows of passersby from various times throughout the day. The digital component of this lighting installation creates a simulation of compressing time in a fixed location, allowing people to interact with the shadows of those who walked the same space earlier. “Hello Lamp Post,” is another take on creative interaction, where people are able to communicate with street furniture through text messages. These projects spark curiosity and encourage people to engage with their city’s streets in a way they never have before.

“Hello Lamp Post” (Pan Studio)

Open Streets

The Open Streets initiative — seen in New York City, Cape Town, Los Angeles, and Buenos Aires — temporarily closes streets to traffic and reclaims public spaces for pedestrians. Open Streets events often feature community activities such as yoga classes, street performances, art installations, and pop-up markets, which create unique moments for people of all ages to engage with their neighborhoods in a safe and exciting environment. Pedestrianized streets pique a special interest because they unleash opportunities for people to experience well-known parts of their city in a new and accessible format. Pedestrian-centered programming elevates this freedom by promoting micro-mobility, physical activity, social connection, and creativity in spaces typically taken over by cars.

Open Street in NYC (Time Out)

Each of these global examples illustrates how tactical urbanism transforms cities, serving as a valuable tool for planners to enhance public spaces and drive economic development. These successful initiatives often involve taking risks and pushing boundaries to create unique projects that captivate people’s interest. While these projects are temporary, they can inform long-term improvements to infrastructure and public space design in cities.

You can reach the author of this piece, Ally La Pinta, at: aml9347@nyu.edu

You can reach the editor of this piece, Calley Wang, at: csw9856@nyu.edu