FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: June 13, 2016
Media Contact: Anthony Garcia | Principal, The Street Plans Collaborative
221 Aragon Avenue | Coral Gables, Florida | 305.978.6426 | tony@streetplans.org
Miami, FL – Pedestrian plazas. Parklets. Art Crosswalks. Pop-up Bike Lanes. Whether on the streets of your own community or elsewhere, you’ve likely seen it for yourself: cities and citizens around the world are using low-cost, short-term projects to advance long-term planning goals. Often referred to as “Tactical Urbanism,” this approach represents a growing urban design movement focused on leveraging small, scalable interventions to improve the livability of towns and cities.
With funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Street Plans Collaborative today announced the kick-off of a workshop series that will jump-start Tactical Urbanism projects in six cities across the U.S.
The six “beta cities” were chosen from a pool of 18 applicants interested in expanding local capacity for using Tactical Urbanism to advance street safety and placemaking projects such as pedestrian plazas, bike lanes, shared streets, and more. The six beta cities are: Akron, OH; Austin, TX; Fayetteville, AR; Long Beach, CA; Washington, D.C.; West Palm Beach, FL.
Leaders in each of the selected beta cities will work with Street Plans to design a workshop that shares the firm’s latest research regarding best practices around design and materials for Tactical Urbanism projects, and demonstrates application of the information through a hands-on project that transforms a local street or public space.
The workshop series represents the first practical application of Street Plans’ work on the Tactical Urbanist’s Guide to Materials and Design – a new print and digital resource that will provide high-quality design and materials guidance for Tactical Urbanism projects. The Guide and workshops will provide information about materials and design for both short-term demonstration projects (typically led by community groups and lasting 1-7 days) and pilot/interim-design projects (typically led by city governments and lasting one month to a year or more).
“Over the past seven years Street Plans has built a practice around implementing Tactical Urbanism projects around the globe,” said Principal Mike Lydon. “Our four open-source guides and recent book, along with many other resources, provide substantial case-study level information on the topic. But, we’ve heard time and again that what is needed now is more guidance about design and materials, for both city- and citizen-led projects.”
“The Tactical Urbanist’s Guide to Materials and Design will address this need by providing design and materials information for Tactical Urbanism projects of varying time scales and level of formality,” adds Principal Tony Garcia. “This new resource will help bridge the gap between city- and citizen-led projects, helping a host of stakeholders widen public engagement and accelerate project delivery and evaluation.”
“Cities can invite more of their citizens to help shape their communities. The Tactical Urbanism Workshops and the Manual will open up new channels of civic engagement,” said Benjamin de la Peña, Knight Foundation director for community and national strategy.
For more information about the project, visit: www.tacticalurbanismguide.com
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