Newest Urbanism

摘要

In 2005, one very small act blew open the concept of urban redevelopment, wrenching it out of the hands of big-city planners and handing it to artists, activists, and, yes, architects. The principals at Rebar, a San Francisco design firm, converted a solitary parking space into a tiny park, complete with sod and a bench (while someone fed the meter), and launched what has become the worldwide PARK(ing) Day phenomenon. By the time Boston city officials issued a request for proposals for similar "parklets" around the city last fall, the do-it-yourself movement known as "tactical urbanism" had moved squarely into the mainstream. Tactical urbanism refers to temporary, cheap, and usually grassroots interventions-including so-called guerrilla gardens, pop-up parks, food carts, and "open streets" projects-that are designed to improve city life on a block-by-block, street-bystreet basis. In the post-Occupy Wall Street era, these efforts give concerned citizens and creative thinkers ways to reclaim built environments, encourage pedestrian traffic and street life, and promote economic investment without being bogged down in big politics and strangled budgets.