Reclaiming Our Cities from Corporate Rule

The Official Guide to Tactical Urbanism

City Lab (2012)

Book Review

The Official Guide to Tactical Urbanism is an encyclopedia of tactics employed by community activists (worldwide) to reclaim city streets from cars and corporations. The goal: to create more public spaces to facilitate community engagement and interaction.

Young people in the US and other industrial countries have been abandoning cars for public and active transport. Yet city authorities (plagued by budget problems since the 2008 financial crash) have been extremely slow to undertake the infrastructure upgrades necessary to facilitate a transition to car free neighborhoods. Many activists, fed up with the futility of lobbying municipal authorities, are employing guerilla tactics to undertake these infrastructure upgrades themselves.

This publication offers a detailed history (dating back to the 1500s) of “unsanctioned” uses of public space, most of which go on to be legitimatized by local authorities. Among many other tactics, The Official Guide to Tactical Urbanism describes the creation of

Play streets – in which neighborhoods make their own signs and designate streets car free to create play areas for kids (and parents)

[image error] A London play street

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Jackson Heights (NYC) car free play space

Guerilla gardening – in which activists garden on public or private land without permission

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Pop-up cafes – tactic to promote public seating in the parking lane and to promote local businesses

[image error] Trading parking space for outdoor seating improves the public realm

De-paving – removing pavement to reduce storm water pollution and increase the amount of land available for habitat restoration, urban farming, tree planting, native vegetation and social gathering.

[image error] Depaving in action

Chair bombing – creating impromptu public seating to improve the social well-being of

neighborhoods, both by salvaging waste and activating the public realm.

[image error] Chairs placed adjacent to Brooklyn’s Blue Bottle Cafe

Intersection repair – repurposing community intersections for community space rather than vehicle traffic.

[image error] An intersection repair project in Los Angeles

Reclaimed setbacks (aka lawn liberation) – creating a more engaging streetscape by activating the space between the street and structures.

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