Tactical Hostile Urbanism?

Tactical urbanism is a bottom-up and top-down urban intervention typically aimed towards improving cities for everyone. From Park(ing) Day to Better Block, tactical urbanism has turned streets into safe cycle tracks and unused asphalt into pedestrian plazas worldwide. But what if it's done for the purposes of preventing people from using a space? Who has the right to be tactical - and who doesn't?

This week's episode is based on a recent incident in Washington DC whereby a rogue armrest appeared on a bench overnight. Presumably, the tactical act was aimed at preventing the homeless population from sleeping on the benches - or was it aimed at preventing harassment? So much to unpack in this one, from the right to exist in public to homeless shelters and park design. Take a listen and let us know what you think!

As always, you can keep up with our thoughts and send us your comments on Twitter or Instagram:

Katrina can be found at @think_katrina

Kristen can be found at @blackurbanist

And if you like these conversations and advocating for human-scale cities, you can donate to our efforts on our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/thirdwaveurbanism. Thank you all for listening!

Here are the references in this episode:

Hostile urbanism on the bench in Washington DC: https://ggwash.org/view/63245/guerrilla-anti-homeless-dividers-appear-in-mount-pleasant-lamong-park-what-does-this-say-about

Tactical Urbanism via Streetplans: http://www.street-plans.com/

Interactive Resource Center: http://interactiveresourcecenter.org/

The mural in Chicago: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/24/remixing-or-plagiarism-in-chicago-a-battle-over-a-mural-of-michelle-obama/?utm_term=.cf109db0fc58

Intro and closing music is "Urban Life" by Gustavs Strazdin used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode