On Nov. 16, 2005, a photo of a San Francisco public art installation done by Rebar Art and Design Studio was shared across the entire world, sustaining a 20-year standing tradition where community members come together to transform parking spots into spaces for socialization and public services of all kinds. Rebar’s project was both an interactive art piece and a social experiment, containing a small square of lawn, a tree, a rented park bench and a few signs to demonstrate that the area was open to the public. All of this was within a metered parking space. Members of Rebar initially filled the meter with coins, but they encouraged visitors to make donations in order to pay to keep the space open.
Now a global event that takes place in mid-September every year, PARK(ing) Day invites citizens to claim parking spaces and convert them into small, sustainable habitats for socialization, lounging, art displays, offering support to others or whatever they feel their community needs.
Additionally, parklets such as these were often used to keep restaurants running during the COVID-19 pandemic. These temporary actions to serve a community through altering a public space are known as tactical urbanism.
Alternatively known as guerilla urbanism, tactical urbanism covers an array of low-cost, often community-driven, temporary changes to public spaces made to benefit the community.
“It provides a cost-effective way to make the space more accessible and inclusive without major renovations,” explained Viral Shah, an architect at the architectural, engineering and construction firm Cordogan Clark in Aurora. Tactical urbanism can range from creating temporary bike lanes, to planting flowers, to installing temporary ramps, to hosting certain aspects of pop-up events like short-term markets or even races and marathons.
“These are projects that can bring members of a community together,” said Julie Villa, regional leader of urban planning in St. Louis at HOK, a global architecture, engineering and design firm.
Tactical urbanism isn’t typically done by architects or urban planners within an office space, though it can be. Anyone can start a tactical urbanism project, whether they are involved in a job in urban planning, a small community driven effort or an organization specifically dedicated to tactical urbanism.
On May 31, 2024, the City of Chicago started the Plow the Sidewalks Pilot Program. The program was intended to help clear Chicago’s sidewalks during the winter season to keep the city safe and accessible for disabled pedestrians. Although it was intended to launch in the winter of 2025-26, the program was cut from the budget later that fall. Unsatisfied with the news, a small, tactical urbanism-focused organization known as Better Streets Chicago launched their own initiative encouraging Chicago citizens to reach out to their local aldermen to address the issue. By Dec. 16, 2024, Better Streets Chicago was able to secure partial funding in attempts to keep the program running, though the initiative is still in progress today.
Tactical urbanism is far from uncommon. Over the past several years, the City of Aurora and its community have made numerous changes in attempts to attract tourism and better the lives of citizens.
“Around 20 to 30 years ago, downtown Aurora was pretty run down compared to how it is now,” social studies teacher Steve Auchstetter said. “They’ve done so much with this. Putting in mini parks, areas for people to hang out, stringlights. Taking areas that just used to be vacant and turning them into something new.” social studies teacher Steve Auchstetter said.
A recent example is an annual festival run by the City of Aurora called Lumenaura, which takes place Oct. 10-26. Featuring streets lined with color, hands-on art pieces and strobe lights, the event invites several artists to create interactive displays throughout the town, taking advantage of space for live music, dancing and vendors. The event is free for the purpose of allowing any visitors to experience it.
“Our commitment is to foster connection and joy through captivating displays and engaging activities,” explains a message on their website. ¨With the support of passionate volunteers, we aim to inspire wonder and celebrate the unique spirit of our community.”
A woman stands in front of an interactive art piece at the Lumenaura Festival. It included a sensor that was able to pick up on motion, which allowed multicolored lights to mimic the movements of the person standing in front of the display.
A rather popular example of tactical urbanism in Aurora is the abundant utility box murals, with over 20 in the downtown area alone. Utility box murals are typically vibrant paintings which cover the electric boxes from head to toe.
“It doesn’t need to be anything extravagant or cost a ton of money,¨ Auchstetter said. ¨People can find easier, cheaper ways to do it. Even just some paint could be used.”
Utility box murals demonstrate just that. The murals may either be commissioned by or pitched to a city, and they provide a simple way to decorate a street.
Tactical urbanism projects are typically temporary, often consisting of art installations, improvised solutions to local problems, and pop-up events. However, the impacts of a project can potentially be long term.
“Some projects can give people an idea of what can be. If they can get people excited about their project, then they may be able to obtain the funds to actually make it happen” Villa said.
While a long term project may not be sustainable for one group or individual, it may inspire someone who does have the means for a long term project to create one.
