Tactical Urbanism

Tactical Urbanism is a set of ideas, methods, and tools that help city governments and community groups work to build safer, happier, and more connected neighborhoods. These goals are achieved by installing short-term, low-cost pilot projects to test out long-term, permanent improvements to the built environment. 

Tactical Urbanism comes in all shapes and sizes. Past projects from around the world have included transforming intersections into pedestrian plazas, creating pop-up parks in parking spaces, and installing crowd-sourced signage to key community destinations. Right here in Northwest Arkansas, bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure were installed temporarily using Tactical Urbanism techniques.

Want to provide feedback on an existing Tactical Urbanism project in Fayetteville?

Take this survey to tell us what you think about the projects in your neighborhood.

How to Propose Your Own Tactical Urbanism project

The City of Fayetteville encourages citizens to develop their own Tactical Urbanism projects. Projects completed by citizens will help to inform the City's planning and development processes.
 
The City has created an application community groups can use to gain approval for Tactical Urbanism projects. 

Before filling out the application, please read the City's Guide to Tactical Urbanism. 

Fill out application form here. You can contact the City's Sustainability Office or Engineering Departments for more information. In addition to reading Fayetteville's guide, we suggest looking through the extensive resources provided by Street Plans including this guide from Burlington, Vermont and this project handbook.

 

From Tactical Urbanism Projects to Permanent Installations

Additional Information

Street Plans Workshop

In November of 2016, City staff, elected officials, regional bike and pedestrian advocacy groups, local business owners, and University representatives met with the Street Plans Collaborative to learn about Tactical Urbanism and identify possible pilot project locations in Fayetteville. Workshop participants identified the Spring Street corridor as a good candidate due to community interest in increasing bike and pedestrian access from the Razorback Regional Greenway to Downtown Fayetteville. The Workshop report is available here. 

Mini-Roundabout Installation

In February of 2017, City staff, local businesses, and community volunteers worked together to build a temporary, mini-roundabout at the intersection of Spring Street and School Avenue. The roundabout was removed in late March of 2017. View more information on the design, installation, data findings, and conclusions from the pilot project.

Tactical Urbanism around the World 

Many cities around the globe are embracing low cost, short term projects to quickly and efficiently test improvements to their communities. Check out this list if you need ideas for a local project or just want to see what some of our global neighbors are doing to improve their cities: