Tactical Urbanism for Pedestrian-Friendly Public Spaces: A Landscape Architecture Perspective

Rapid urban growth and automobile-oriented transport planning have increased pressure on public spaces and reduced space for pedestrians. Tactical urbanism offers low-cost, short-term, and adaptable interventions that can transform existing urban spaces and be tested under real-use conditions. This chapter examines pedestrian-oriented tactical urbanism from a landscape architecture perspective. It discusses the concept, origins, development, and major forms of tactical urbanism, including parklets, pop-up plazas, play streets, temporary pedestrianisation, and street greening. The multidimensional benefits of these interventions are evaluated across transport, social, environmental, economic, and health dimensions. The European Landscape Convention is then used as a framework for interpreting tactical practices in relation to landscape character, local identity, user participation, public interest, landscape quality, and the integrated processes of planning, protection, and management. Ultimately, tactical urbanism is presented as a means of testing pedestrian-oriented interventions in situ and supporting their transition towards more permanent and context-sensitive public-space transformations.