An installment from Spacing's "Cities for People" series makes the case for tactical urbanism as a supplement to professional practice.
"As a so-called 'design professional' with six years of university education in architecture behind me, it can be a challenge to straddle the professional and the grassroots, but it can also be extremely rewarding. Collaborating on tactical urbanism projects lets me challenge my role as both a citizen and a professional, and I try to contribute as both," writes Sarah Gelbard.
Gelbard, who was one of the creative minds behind the Impromptu Playground project, begins the article by recounting the Ottawa Musical Underground event from last summer called Set the Stage, which reclaimed a freeway underpass for the purpose of making and listening to music.
The article includes insight into the process of Gelbard and her compatriots as well as clear descriptions of the value such activities have for her life and her career.
Read the full story: Design Citizens: professional-grassroots urban tactics
Minneapolis Activists Use DIY Traffic Circles to Identify, Slow ICE
Residents are using the pop-up roundabouts to slow traffic and make their presence known on Minneapolis streets.
Portland Launches Tool for DIY Community Road Safety Interventions
A set of resources offers safety data and guidance for putting low-cost, quick-build interventions into action.
Indianapolis Encourages Tactical Urbanism With Lending Library, Grant Program
Residents can apply to receive assistance with traffic calming projects that can provide valuable data and lead to permanent changes.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority