Megatrends and the West Midlands 2021: Tactical Urbanism

This think piece puts forward ‘tactical urbanism’ as an increasing global trend which offers great opportunities for shaping inclusive and activated urban public space in West Midlands cities and the Future Business District following COVID-19. Through considering how tactical urbanism is carried out globally across various scales (from individual action to national government programmes), three key opportunities of this trend are identified: 1) low-cost prototyping, 2) tool for envisioning a different future, 3) reducing inequalities in access to shaping city space through increasing inclusivity.

COVID-19 has accelerated this trend globally, demonstrating the value in tactical urbanism as a dynamic and reactive approach to shaping city space, and the opportunities of this trend to thrive within newly connected communities. Looking to the future, there is a trend of tactical urbanism approaches moving from small-scale independent interventions to being co-opted by local government into planning policy and city strategies. To harness the opportunities of this trend in the West Midlands it will be essential to learn from the challenges and successes of local government initiatives globally, with particular attention to ensuring citizen empowerment remains a key objective so that projects can reduce (rather than reproduce) inequalities in the shaping of city space.