LandInUrbanismTacticalVacant
Toka 22/01/2021172259Ahmed UrbanMinorretrofitting HSO report
Contents Tactical Urbanism 11 Vacant Land 14 Impact 18 Case Study 22 Conclusion 34 Sources 36
List of figures
Figure 3: Re-development (Temporary Vacant Lot Activation , n.d.) 19
List of tables
Figure 1: Conceptual model 5
Figure 2: Tactical Urbanism Approach (Lydon, 2012) 8
Table 1: Conditions of appropriate land for temporary use. (Nemeth, 2013) 16
Research Question
The first chapter discusses tactical urbanism, its definition, purpose, and process. The second chapter explores Vacant land in more depth, in order to gain a deeper understanding of Vacant land, the meaning, the impact on the surrounding. The third chapter goes along with the first two, the connection between the vacant land and tactical urbanism (Figure 1). The fourth is the potential impact that can be achieved through temporary use intervention in these empty plots. The Case study is the last chapter. it pertains to the application of the research. The reason for vacancy, the approach of these interventions, and what are the influences and results.
On the other hand, Tactical urbanism initiatives have been interpreted as an alternative and a challenge to formal spatial planning tools to the need for a more responsive planning system. Short-term implementation, scarce resources and citizens’ involvement are said to be the key characteristics of this emerging movement in urbanism (Nemeth, 2013). Tactical urbanism suggests that temporary buildings in vacant spaces has givenrise to more successful areas and reinvigorated sites for permanent buildings. Exploring the potential for this temporary use and conclude with some thoughts on the benefits of it on the vacant space. This research is an exploration of the possibilities for the temporary use and occupation in the empty plots.
• Find the best case studies and the best practices of the tactical urbanism in the empty plots.
Figure 1: Conceptual model
• The vacant Land definition, impacts, barriers to implement.
Objectives
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How to provide a value into a vacant land via tactical urbanism?
The aim of the research it to get a better understanding of Tactical urbanism in order to improve the quality of the vacant plots:
• Explore the definition of the tactical urbanism
Introduction
As some cities grapple with economic decline and depopulating neighbourhoods, a number of academics and professionals have focused their attention on the causes, conditions and patterns of the resultant vacant land. It is shortsighted to view vacant land as problems only and ignore their potentials as significant contributors to the functioning of urban systems (Nemeth, 2013). Furthermore, all the programs and proposals that rely on producing more permanent and profitable uses from these vacant lands require a significant investment of time and political, social and fiscal capital are perhaps inappropriate in a context wherein the long-term economic or social benefit cannot be guaranteed (Lydon et al., 2012).
• Temporary interventions versus Permanent measures in the vacant land.
Reading Guide
• Engage all stakeholders in a critique of the status quo, as well as potential new materials or processes.
• Short-term commitment and realistic expectations.
• A deliberate, phased approach to instigating change.
According to Mike and Lydon, Tactical is “relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose” or “adroit in planning or manoeuvring to accomplish a purpose.” Translated to cities, Tactical Urbanism is an attempt to activation using short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions. TU is used by a variety of stakeholders, involving governments, business and non-profits, citizen groups, and individuals. It makes use of open and iterative development processes, the efficient use of resources, and the creative potential unleashed by social interaction (Garcia, 2016) (Mike Lydon & Anthony Garcia, 2015).
UrbanismTactical
• Low-risks, with a possibly a high reward.
Framework process:
(Lydon M. , 2012). There is a growing body of work that articulates and analyses the increasing interest in small-scale, unsanctioned, community-led urban interventionist has noted the rise of ‘Do-it-Yourself’ (DIY) urbanism (Mould, 2014).
• The development of social capital between citizens and the building of organizational capacity between.
The growing popularity of TU has fuelled an interest in small scale activities undertaken by local citizens that redesign their urban area to be more ‘liveable’. In a post-2008 recession era, TU is already being exploited by politicians and urban policy institutions within the framework of ‘urban redevelopment’
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The TU movement is attributed to urbanist and planner (Mould, 05 August 2014). It is a small scale improvements that aloe a host of local actors to test a new concept before making substantial political and financial commitments, and it normally referred to as a guerrilla urbanism, pop up urbanism city repair or DIY urbanism. The tactical urbanism projects create a laboratory for experimentations and they allow for making of plans without the preponderance of planning (Silva, July 7, 2016). Tactical Urbanism which is an approach that features the following five characteristics (Lydon M., n.d ):
• Investigate what others are doing. Look to peer cities and established how-to guides to learn from what others are doing well, or not.
Tactical urbanism interventions establish a laboratory for experimentation. Since long term change often starts with the procedure of attempting something small. After execution, results may be observed and tested in real time. And when achieved inexpensively, and with flexibility, changes may be made before moving forward. If the improvement doesn’t succeed as planned, the entire budget will not be shot, and future designs can remain calibrated to fulfill the needs of a particular, and dynamic setting. If done well, such small scale improvements may be conceived as the first stage in realizing lasting transformation. Therefore, tactical urbanism is most effective when used in conjunction with long term planning initiatives. (Lydon M., nd)
• Usage of what has been learnt to develop a new approach that can be tested and evaluated. Start small and check in with stakeholders, so that lessons learned can be integrated before the process is scaled city or regionwide.
• Depending on the project change that is tried to bring about, this could be lists of materials used, event permit structures that have in place, existing vendor relationships, liability arrangements etc. (Lydon et al, December 2016)
• Offering of local solutions for local planning challenges.
1.1 SORTS OF TEMPORARY INTERVENTION
The multiple approaches, tools and techniques of intervention, introducing a fusion between art, design, architecture and urban design through a concept of performance, urban happening, event or site specific service designed to create, substantially bottom-up, “spaces of democracy”.
1.2 APPROACH
Figure 2: Tactical Urbanism Approach (Lydon et al, December 2016).
In a book by Bishop and William described the concept of “temporary” cannot be “based on the nature of use, or whether rent is paid, or whether a use is formal or informal, or even the scale, longevity or endurance of a temporary use, but rather the intention of the user, developer, or planners that the use should be temporary.” (Bishop & Williams 2012). There are two ways to think about temporary uses are linked to practical interests, those of the planner/ developer and the activist/user. They also reflect two different sentiments, the developer’s hopeful and positive ethos on the potentials temporary uses may unearth, and the user’s uncertain and critical concern about continuity of the use and fate of their project (Pan Lehtovuori & Sampo Ruoppila, 2015).
The temporary uses of the tactical urbanism can fit into one of two categories. In the first category are programs in which no permanent changes to existing surfaces and structures occur. The temporary uses leave no traces that cannot be easily removed. Impacts, if any, are fully reversible with no or very little effort. If physical elements are involved in the use, these are removable and not permanently attached to surfaces or structures. In the second model, the changes to existing surfaces and structures. These might involve the alteration or removal of existing buildings and structures, the removal of pavement and other impervious surfaces, changes to the micro-topography of a site, or the construction of new structures of varying scales (Nemeth, 2013).
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The origin of Tactical Urbanism programs involves community and/ or political support. Support from high-ranking agency officials is an essential parallel to community/political support and often the result of it (Lydon et al, December 2016). Tactical urbanism is a process that can be undertaken by many parties, ideally in concert. Neither strictly bottom-up nor top-down (Pak, January 2017 )(figure2). To embrace an iterative approach to project delivery, it needs to buy-in from everyone who is impacted by the new processes or materials being introduced. Pro-active engagement with stakeholders is key from the community groups engaged as stewardship partners to the crews installing new materials to the street (Lydon et al, December 2016).
broad or niche audience. The media coverage of temporary use activities that are meant to alleviate social and cultural inequality is also vital in boosting public awareness and gaining political support. (U.S Department of housing and urban, 2014)
In another sense, social networks help with temporary use projects. Capitalizing on social connections between various groups and individuals in particular by sharing of strategies, knowledge and experience can be an essential instrument for promoting groups of temporary use projects in a certain area. Moreover, networking can generate new forms of collaboration, an region might develop a communal sense of identity, or participants can benefit from economies of scale when negotiating permissions.
The media play a critical part in generating excitement, with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter being used rapidly to spread the word about a previously “exclusive” pop-up project to a
1.2.2 Top down
Social network in bottom up participation
The method uses the tool of TU, which is used to bring planning concepts to people physically instead of asking for people to attend meetings to discuss hypothetical proposals. The goal is to show people different opportunities in the real world so that people may make better informed decisions based on their own experiences (Mike Lydon & Anthony Garcia, 2015). Regulatory context can also play a major role in stimulating or discouraging uses. The policies can be critical to regulating events like vending and the outdoor sale of food or outdoor music, cultural and art events. The team is responsible for establishing the framework conditions required to launch a temporary use, such as official permits, lease contracts, political and administrative support and organization structures. Early temporary use projects were operated mostly informally, but in recent years, municipal policymakers, politicians, and members of the private sector have adopted temporary use practices, providing more formal channels for agents who wish to provide temporary services (U.S Department of housing and urban, 2014).
identified into two major categories: young, well-educated entrepreneurs, drawn by the low entry criteria and the potential to establish conditions of economic, social, or cultural change, and those who have a regular salary and pursue temporary use projects as more of a hobby, often founded upon a community or philanthropic ideal. Both categories, nevertheless, share a tendency to work fast and flexibly to apply an experimental, mainly improvised approach to difficulty solving, to operate at low cost and to endure an element of temporal insecurity, whether in the form of a short-term rental agreement, the lack of a rental arrangement altogether, or illegal use (U.S Department of housing and urban, 2014).
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Active participation
1.2.1 Bottom up TU for citizens, are often used as a form of civil disobedience or simply as a way to get things done without the burden of local regulation or extended timelines of public process. (Mike Lydon & Anthony Garcia, Initiators2015)are
One characteristic of bottom-up is the active participation of the visitors or consumers of the site in the production of a sense of place the “continual, performative co-production of place by managers and users”. A young generation of architects and urban theorists has begun to research the rapid development of such practices of temporary uses to make sense of their implication for urbanism and urban development processes in contemporary cities. Some authors have emphasized the challenges that they pose for “conventional” forms of urban planning as well as the lessons they offer for new forms of flexible, “open source” urbanism (Colomb, 2012).
There is no internationally accepted definition of what constitutes ‘vacant’ land (O’Callaghan, C. and Lawton, P., 2015). But the broad definition according to Nemeth (2013) is vacant land to include all land that is unused or abandoned for the longer term, including raw dirt, spontaneous vegetation and emergent ecologies, land with recently razed buildings, perimeter agricultural land fallen out of cultivation, brownfields and other contaminated sites, or land that supports long-term, abandoned derelict structures. When a structure sits on the property, some contend that a structure is abandoned, and its lot considered vacant, when it has been unoccupied for 60 days; others use 120 days or longer. Vacant land can be zoned residential, commercial, industrial or some combination thereof (Nemeth, 2013). Much of the increase in vacant land in recent decades occurred due to shifts from an industrial to service, economy and the expensive clean up and negative image of environmentally degraded land, suburban migration, the shift to a more mobile workplace, weak economic cycles and disinvestment in infill property (Nemeth, 2013). Also, political and economic in nature. Vacant land is the result of spatial fluctuations in urban development, which are intensified in the global reorganisation of output (Madanipour, May 2017). Individual decisions, market operations or public policies generate patterns of investment and disinvestment within and across localities (Garvin, June 2013).
LandVacant
The vacant land causes suburbanisation, whereby houses, shops and offices migrate to car-dependant, larger spaces in the suburbs, hollowing out city centres in much of the world. Additionally they involve the consequences of planned improvements, creating a waiting game, a planning blight, whereby the possibility of change prevents new investment in an area, losing economic value and operation. Emptiness follows the loss or realignment of functions, on small or large scales. (Madanipour, May 2017). Vacant lots can create significant problems for surrounding neighbourhoods, including reduced property values and increased crime, as they attracted illegal activity because decaying structures and overgrown lots provided cover for people engaging in illicit behaviours (Garvin, June 2013). From the negative externalities may in fact serve to increase vacancy by pushing responsible homeowners to leave declining neighbourhoods (Megan Heckert & Jeremy Mennis, 2012).
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2.1 EFFECT OF THE VACANT LAND
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First, financial barrier, despite the low property values in many distressed urban neighbourhoods, the cost of these properties, which are sometimes small and oddly shaped, is often higher than the price of equivalently-sized properties outside the urban centre. In addition, virgin properties in fringe areas are free of many of the problems that plague even previously residential, empty urban properties: the presence of constructions that must be torn down before the land can be redeveloped; potential environmental contamination from asbestos or other toxic substances; encumbrances (property taxes, utility liens, mortgage liens, demolition liens, etc.).
According to James, 2001 to have a permanent redevelopment for the vacant land, there are different obstacle opposing the development.
2.2 BARRIERS TO DEVELOPING VACANT LAND
Secondly, Regulatory and Institutional Barriers as zoning regulations can be a significant barrier to redevelopment and Systems, rules, and procedures established as part of government bureaucracy.
Thirdly, Physical Barriers as environmental constraints, small size, sometimes awkward shape of urban parcels and individual barriers as people’s perception about a neighbourhood, or property owners may create obstacles by an unwillingness or an inability to allow redevelopment or neighbourhood opposition to specific redevelopment projects can lead to their ultimate demise (James Goldstein, 2001).
Thus, these vacant lands, it seems an opportunity for the urban planners and tactical urbanism experts to develop and implement temporary interventions. On one hand, these temporary uses can be seen as tools of urban planning and management, and on the other hand as intrinsically valuable spaces and processes.
The type of space used can vary possibilities include anything from former industrial areas, railroad stations, waterfront areas, and unused commercial zones to vacant residential neighbourhoods and public institutions. The temporary project’s purpose will affect the choice of site, in turn, incorporating the previous site’s use into its new use is often done and marketed as an asset. While not all vacant land will be suitable for these temporary uses, the needs of temporary users are often similar to those of conventional real estate (U.S Department of housing and urban, 2014). The tactical urbanism cannot be applied on every type of land, and according to Nemeth 2013 that this vacant land needs to have a specific characteristics in order to host these interventions and to realize an impact (table 1).
TU VacantinLand
Vacant land and buildings are components of the urban development and change process. However, traditional urban theory has little to say about vacant or derelict land or buildings or the evolution of new uses or new structures that accommodate them (Henneberry, 2017). The trend toward informality was evident in the solutions devised and advocated to counter the constraints imposed by planning and regulatory regimes. (Gebhardt, 2017). The Interventions often cantered on temporary and low-cost improvements, they are done in hopes of promoting community viability and inspiring long term results (John son, 2015). For instance, There are more than 20,000 vacant lots in the city of Los Angeles. Many are owned by the city, others are privately owned. Free Lots Angeles is working with residents and government agencies to create new policies that improve how community members can more easily access publicly owned vacant lots for transformation (Free Lots Angeles , June 2015).
Traditional developers and temporary users operate with opposing aims and methods. As the temporary is concerned with content, whereas the permanent relies on financial return. The Temporary repurposes existing resources, mining the “junkyard” for opportunities, whereas the permanent investor pushes new construction. The spontaneous intervention has little capital or political backing, whereas the longer-term project requires funding and support. The temporary user addresses what has been built over time: the built urban environment is the existing medium to work with rather than the end goal. The permanent developer ignores this precondition, and, by doing so, ignores the power of the urban palimpsest (Desimini, January 2015).
3.1 TEMPORARY Versus PERMANENT IN VACANT LAND
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Sociallybraced
GeneralClimateEconomic
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Recent vacancy, likely to redevelop
“Underutilizedquickly land” (awaiting planned development)
Events/programmatic uses “Soft Desire/needcontent”to break from mono-func tional Desireenvironmentstoencourage/create new mean ings, functions, identities, and relation ships for/of a space
General categories More appropriate for temporary uses
Traditional planning tools successfully encouraging private investment
Development potential of the space
Public ownership
Fixed Inflexibleinfrastructurebuiltform
Strategic” sanctioned uses catering to preferred/privileged/mainstream demo graphics
Proven solution use
Already diverse, multi use environment
Higher use value
Table 1: Conditions of appropriate land for temporary use. (Nemeth, 2013)
Trial and error, flexible approach em
Less appropriate for temporary uses
Private ownership (*unless vacant too long
Pragmatic, financial/economic goals Only
High-profit, central tourist area
Role/ Influence of the city
Lack of (or poor efficacy of) public invest ment or Slow-growth/decliningincentives cities
Ownership of the land
Active community/residents/non-profits/ small investors
Exploit uncertain transitional period
Higher exchange value
Long-vacant land or structures
Low private development interest
Areas with high risk of decline and “con tagion effect”
Non-corporate, low-capital businesses or investors likely
Growing Vibrant Cities
Area of Corporatestabilitydevelopers, big business, mu nicipal “growth regimes”
Larger scale
Top-down, corporate interests
Smaller Leftover/remnantscale parcels, small, frag mented spaces
Larger, continuous spaces
Potential uses of the space
Test unfamiliar or potentially controversial Educationalideas tool to prove investment po tential of certain uses/spaces
Areas seeking redevelopment, attraction of new residents and businesses
Tactical” unsanctioned and transgressive uses, frequently by marginalized demo graphics, subcultures (e.g. squatting, skateboarding, emergent artists…)
progressive goals (inclusion, di versity, access)
Times of “disruptive, stressful, social and urban change”
More stable, secure areas
Top-Down master-planning
Immanent redevelopment likely
More stable, predictable time
Vacant land/abandoned structures
High private development interest
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According to table 1, First, the projects require a suitable site, usually vacant land, from which to operate. These possible interventions are possible in abundant available land, weak property structure, little governmental oversight, and few conventional planning and design initiatives. In such a climate, it is possible for individuals to take action, becoming directly involved with the production of space. Enterprising individuals see opportunities to productively appropriate the same plots, operating on a system of use value rather than exchange value.
Common Strategies for transferring the vacant land:
No uniform approach can be formulated for such self-organizing projects, the policy must focus on facilitation of spontaneity in the land as the starting point for policy and development of it. Temporary performing stages may become established and playful innovations in media art workshops, for instance, may have great business potential (Ruoppila, 2004).
However, Urban designers have been transforming vacant land since decades, into community green space for long time and expanded over time. This temporary continue to be prevalent in many cities and are often operated through centralized efforts and organizations (Nemeth, 2013).
A second common strategy for developing temporary use projects centres on generating a special event or experience, that focus on creating a placebased experience. This strategy is being employed elsewhere which provides free or low-cost housing to artists and designers interested in pursuing short-term projects in the city. To create vibrant cultural spaces and generate public awareness and involvement in the city’s future development. Sports, particularly street sports, also feature frequently in temporary use projects. (U.S Department of housing and urban, 2014)
As long as the permanent measures aren't applicable in all the land types. The tactical urbanism is a new hope to shape the future. These efforts include community gardens, parks and pop-up retail spaces, which all aim to breathe new life into an abandoned, vacant space.
Temporary non-commercial uses attract commercial use. The effect can be immediate, for example, if three quarters of an empty building is rented cheaply to independent theatres and orchestras that bring in an audience, the other quarter can be leased to a restaurateur at a reasonable rent. Place promotion and rise in property value in the long run is a major attraction for property owners and an argument for letting cheaply to temporary users in the first place (Lupo, 2009).
4.1.2 Positive attention
The temporary use of vacant lands may also offer a rich and diverse territory within which to accommodate testing of a wide range of uses and processes and their effects. This chapter is looking for the impacts of the tactical urbanism interventions on spatial, social economy and ecology.
4.1.1
These tactical urbanism interventions they also preserve the area from decay and vandalism and reduce security costs for the owner. Temporary uses may alter the image of the site and give the site a “new address”, previously closed and “forgotten” places can be mentally integrated into the urban fabric. Secondly, the temporary uses often develop a mix of functions to the districts in question, and thus follow the ideals of urban planning that favour heterogeneity. Planners view them as testing grounds where new ideas can be tested. Local residents also tend to view them as legitimate and acceptable ways to make use of a site (Ruoppila, 2004).
Impact
4.1.3 Image and well being
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Using tactical urbanism, urban (re)development can evolve from experimentation to implementation, from temporary to permanent. So decisions can be justified better, and planners and designers gain more confidence in confronting the current unpredictable and uncertain conditions. Temporary use therefore allows for an experimental, practical search for solutions when traditional development strategies fail (Lupo, 2009).
4.1 SPATIAL
Opening these urban vacant land to forms of uses and occupations that are temporary (often very short-term), creating immediate and intermediate benefits that are contextual and flexible, and support an incremental process of urban transformation. This will reassert the role of the temporal, traditionally undermined in discussions of the city in favour of a focus on spatiality (Nemeth, 2013). Temporary uses can activate unused sites, show initiative and progress, and quickly alter the perception of vacant land as derelict, blighted and neglected. The positive activity and perception of vibrancy can quickly create positive attention to abandoned or stalled development sites, significantly increasing their visibility and agency within a neighbourhood.
Planners(Re)developmentsanddevelopersneed to realize that waiting spaces can be seen as an opportunity instead of a threat to the city. Temporary interventions on these sites provide infinite possibilities for a valuable contribution to urban (re)development (Smet, 2013).
With their fast production of tangible results, temporary uses can catalyse communities around common goals that serve local needs and not external interests and agendas. The provision of tangible results also contributes to the buy-in and sustained involvement of community rather than the kind of short-term activation typically seen (Nemeth, 4.2.22013).
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By Tactical urbanism, the ability to work and execute in short time to produce significant impacts, directly and in real time on social transformations, through self-organization in territorial laboratories of networking and involvement of various social stakeholders. Even though the consequences of these actions are temporary, they can still have a long-term and consistent effect. Investing not so much in the physical realm and material realm but intangible aspects such as community building by means of identity and belonging (Lupo, 2009).
4.3 ECOLOGICAL
4.2.3 Social transformations
Vacant land has a lot of potentials to accommodate a wide range of non-human systems that can facilitate significant benefits to urban agglomerations, like providing habitat, improving microclimate and stormwater run-off. These benefits and infrastructural performances are directly related to vegetation that might develop due to a cessation of maintenance system. Temporary uses frequently have a very low impact on emergent successional vegetation, and can even increase vegetative cover on sites used for community gardening or tree farms, both common temporary Consequentially,uses.
the temporary use operate on multiple scales, from an individual lot to a block to a neighbourhood to a city-wide or even regional scale. This multi-scalar approach has so far mostly been practised in the context of stormwater management and to open space and greenway systems. The current discourses on “landscape as infrastructure “start to emphasize the ability of even small parcels to produce significant benefits if they operate within a system that connects them to other lots with similar functions and performances (Nemeth, 2013).
4.2 SOCIAL
4.2.1 Social empowerment
InnovationsDynamiccan be sparked from social creativity, in other words by people collective involvement (Lupo, 2009). Waiting zones can offer less dominant users the opportunity to participate in the city life and by having an instant temporary intervention developed, potentially leading to more dynamic and integrated projects. More dynamic since alternative users and activities are provided opportunities for inclusion. Better integrated since the support base for projects is broadened when locals participate in and grow with the transformation process (Smet, 2013).
4.4 ECONOMIC
One of the most significant advantages to temporary uses is that no new land acquisition is necessary, eliminating the need for often contentious, long and expensive negotiations over property rights. The reversibility of the use, particularly if they do not involve any or only moderate physical changes can easily be reversed, might compel property owners to allow temporary occupations by right. Temporary uses are also generally inexpensive (figure 3) to implement yet can generate revenue very quickly, benefitting landowners and developers and creating business opportunities for groups that would normally be excluded from occupying vacant land as they lack the capital necessary to engage in more formal, permanent leasing activities (Lupo, 2009). On the scale of the city, temporary use creates a good economic microclimate because it provides input to a dynamic and durable economic microclimate. They form a vital networks and push boundaries to create economic practices that contribute to what is called ‘sustainable disequilibrium’ innovation and flexibility as the source of economy (Rob Vooren, 2003).
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Figure3: Simple Tools in TU (Temporary Vacant Lot Activation, n.d.)
Vacant land:
In Westplein in Utrecht city there is a big vacant land in a middle of a residential area. The tramline, school, row houses have been removed from Westplein square and were demolished to make way for new residential housing on the location. But in the recent time there is no current development going there (Corsten, n.d). Concerned that the long period of vacancy on Westplein would lead to negative situations, such as vandalism, wilderness and overall unattractiveness. People want to take matters into their own hands and want to have more responsibility, while the municipality is eager to decrease their involvement.
They want to make the area more sociable, to improve the image of the nighbourhood. By taking responsibility. These residents learn to develop their spatial opinions about an area (Corsten, n.d). In late 2013 the group planted tulip bulbs around the edge of the banks. In 2015 another 5 wooden boxes were added and this made place for a couple of new volunteers. The Paviljoen pOp well designed to increase the beauty of the square. Many pedestrians and cyclists use the square as a crossing road to enter or leave the innercity. They wanted to make a more sociable crossing, and has succeeded in that.
Beside the pavilion, the idea was to make moveable wooden boxes filled with soil and to move them on the square to grow plants in. The area is fenced with willow branches, and wooden self-made furniture is placed alongside the wooden gardening boxes.
The pavilion has been constructed due to the possibility of using the vacant land to install a public cafeteria.
Hardware
Orgware
StudyCase
UTRECHT, The Netherlands (Residential)
In summertime box owners must water the plants on a daily basis. In winter, the boxes are stored so there is nothing to do. During spring and autumn volunteers revealed that they visit Halte Westplein one, two or three times a week. Most of the volunteers live nearby.
Software
To gather volunteers an advert has been placed on a website, where people could register to get a box for gardening Inpurposes.evenings workshops are given, or there might be some small parties or gatherings in the Pavijloen. The neighbourhood is involved with the pavilion regularly, as they helped to build the roof tiles. Each tile on the roof is the same design but have unique prints on it , representing the help of many neighbours.
Tactical urbanism is a broad expression used to describe many different kinds of interventions in cities. They seem to correspond to different qualities, for instance by occurring at different scales, land use and the approach. In this chapter, different case studies from different countries and their interventions will be discussed and analysed upon Hardware, Software and Orgware measures, then their result.
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Impact
Paviljoen pOp (Corsten, n.d)
Utrecht Westplein as community garden (Corsten, n.d)
Orgware
The community became increasingly interested in co-designing public spaces, and in rebuilding and adapting them to suit its own needs. Two temporary use projects initiatives along the banks of the river Somes and the accommodation of artists and galleries became emblematic for the city. Cluj boasts a booming cultural scene, which needs space. It is an internationally renowned incubator for contemporary art. The city’s many students contribute to its lively, dynamic atmosphere.
Vacant land:
Cultural initiatives in Cluj range from grassroots social innovation and community engagement to street art festivals and contemporary fine arts. Temporary use activities in vacant area contribute to the way the city is experienced, either by way of temporary installations or with occasional events in public spaces. (Refill, 2018)
Impact
CLUJ, Romania (Riverbank)
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There are many vacant and abandoned industrial sites and buildings in Cluj. In response to this problem, the city began to implement temporary use projects. Before planning actions, the city needs a framework for testing ideas coming from local citizens, who are more than willing to become actors in the urban development process and assume their role as a pro-active community.
The area hosted an exhibition of the entire project 2017).(Mirunaeverymappingexplanatory,anddescribingsingleinterventionDraghiaetal.,
Software
Festival that have also drawn attention to the river Somes and helped to re-integrate it into city Visitorslife. and passers-by could draw their own ideas for the riverbanks on large boards, thus interacting directly with the city.
Somes Delivery Pavilion was designed as a multifunctional, temporary building, aimed at creating a link between a Park, the green river shore and the water, to signalize an urban happening on the Somes river. Another temporary installation took the form of a group of bright silhouettes passing on the river shore, a nocturnal invitation to get closer to the river. The view was a terraced garden, offering a wide view of the surrounding landscape.
The riverbanks are cleaned up and sanitised while workshops raise awareness for environmental topics.
Hardware
Workshops raise awareness for environmental topics. (Refill, 2018)
Somes View was a terraced garden with view of the surrounding landscape. (Refill, 2018)
De Site host a creative meeting place that got residents involved in their district. De Site involved residents in an urban renewal process that traditional participation methods would have left them out of.
The City of Ghent, social partner and social-artistic organisation started the temporary use project. It gave time and space to the neighbourhood’s wishes, demands, and qualities and responded to several important needs in the district.
This case were initiated by the city as part of urban renewal projects aimed at citizen participation. This project has allowed the city to generated new temporary bottom-up initiatives in other neighbourhoods. The city has embraced temporary use as a way to involve citizens in urban regeneration and to provide breathing room for existing social innovations. The municipality has stepped up as a powerful broker for temporary use. The neighbourhood managers act as neutral mediators. Ghent wants to become a citizenoriented eco-system where pioneers and citizens have the confidence to take the initiative, to experiment, and to coordinate temporary use (Refill, 2018).
Allotments, a greenhouse, urban horticultural plots, a football pitch, a bike playground, and an urban farmstead with a chicken coop was were set up.
GHENT, Belguim (Industrial)
The alternative currency Torekes was launched residents could earn Torekes to buy vegetables and other supplies in local shops.
Impact
Hardware SoftwareOrgware
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Vacant land:
Even though the city of Ghent is short on urban space, it has some brownfields, vacant warehouses. De Site is a location of former telecom factory Alcatel Bell in the Rabot district (Case Study: Ghent, an Urban Commons, n.d.)
De Site on the location of former telecom factory (Case Study: Ghent, an Urban Commons, n.d.)
Urban horticultural plots, (Case Study: Ghent, an Urban Commons, n.d.)
This project is a strong example of how communities, businesses and governments can unlock temporarily vacant spaces for neighbourhood gardening. 3000 Acres ran a campaign which finished successfully on raising $20,055, double what they needed. Word of their success in engaging communities in growing produce in urban plots has gained the attention of Sydney, with an initiative 2000 Acres recently establishing (3000 Acres, 2017).
Located on a former industrial site, the soil wasn’t safe for growing food. The problem was solved by repurposing interim bulk containers (IBCs) to create selfirrigating raised wicker beds. These modular beds mean the whole garden can be relocated within the community when the site is ready to be developed.
Hardware SoftwareOrgware
Vacant Land
Impact:
3000 Acres transformed the site into a temporary urban oasis with 22 garden plots and a compost station to recycle food and garden waste from on and off the site.
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Fortnightly planting workshops with 3000acres, coffee cupping workshops, film projection nights, yoga, architecture bike rides and art installations. (Neometro, n.d.)
Holding an on-going free community event program under the themes of art, design, food and wellbeing. The program has partnered with a wide range of local community groups.
Not all vacant land is available for long-term reuse temporarily as Nine smith street. With this in mind, Melbourne-based organisation start the initiative to plant 3000 Acres connected with property developers Neometro to create a temporary community garden on the site of a future housing development. With support from horticulture students. (Lydon M., 2012)
NINE SMITH STREET, Australia (Pauseland)
Oasis with 22 garden plots (Neometro, n.d.)
Holding an on-going free community event program (Neometro, n.d.)
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City of Okotoks has neighbourhood which is a greenfield without developments. To ‘create high-quality public spaces, believing that the key to reversing the harmful effects of suburban sprawl is to promote compact, walkable, mixeduse neighbourhoods, From the study, it becomes clear that tactical urbanism is a huge part of the development process because Greenfields have the potential (appendix 1) to accommodate different kinds of interventions (as being a waiting area) before construction. The positive activity and perception of vibrancy can quickly create positive attention to Greenfields, significantly increasing their visibility within a neighbourhood. The tactical urbanism is necessary to change the image of the area and attract positive attention to it by activating and making it a destination for residents of surrounding neighbourhoods, and encouraging them to cross the highway and enter the area. Greenfields offer a great deal of potential to accommodate a variety of nonhuman systems that can significantly enhance the quality of the area, like providing habitat, improving microclimate and reducing stormwater runoff by the creek. Tactical urbanism are also generally inexpensive to implement yet can generate revenue very fast. It benefits the government and developers and creates business opportunities for groups that would otherwise be excluded from occupying Greenfields due to a lack of capital to engage in formal, permanent leases during building development.
All the case studies that were mentioned in the study were tied to Greenfield in one way or another. From Utrecht case studies, it illustrates a novel way of cultivating community gardens and the benefits of combining them with other orgware measures that can still be implemented in greenfield projects. The case study Cluj, it is kind of a copy paste case study. It is exactly the same situation as it is in the greenfield with creek area. Nine smith street is almost as large as the greenfield. The demonstration this kind of organizational power suggests that tactical urbanism on such a large scale can have a profound impact on the area.
Link Okotoksto
Research gap
The political impact of the tactical urbanism is a second limitation in the research, due to shortage of time, the study overlooked the influence of the tactical urbanism on the political and regulations, that could be an opportunity for further discussions.
Tactical urbanism has the potential to re-centre vacant land as an important component of the processes that create urbanity and shape the new cities. It seems that temporary uses on urban vacant lands might soon be viewed as solution for the future.
As a conclusion vacant land may provide the role of the neighbourhood resident as co-author of the spaces and places they inhabit and as empowered shareholders in urban development processes.
There may be some possible limitations in this study that could be addressed in future research regarding case studies. As the case studies were chose to be more related to Okotoks and Greenfield. The best practices in the further research could be more structured and have a more coherent with the core of the research itself.
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The temporary use of vacant land is not a panacea to create resilient, sustainable, socially and ecologically just cities. Nor can it be ignored that there are significant economic and political interests that oppose temporary uses. To explore and realize the potentials of urban vacant land it is critical to situate efforts at temporary use in the particular social, economic, ecological and spatial contexts, that may instrumentalize such efforts and preserve the market-driven redevelopment that obtains value and disrupts and disempowers locals.
Conclusion
P., & Williams, L. (2012). The temporary city. New York: Routledge.
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Case Study: Ghent, an Urban Commons. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Commons Transition UrbanUniversityAngeles.gardensem/winter14/highlight4.htmlApproachesUniversity,neighbourhoodJournalMARKETING,commonshttps://primer.commonstransition.org/4-more/5-elements/case-studies/case-study-ghent-an-urban-primer:Colomb,C.(2012).PUSHINGTHEURBANFRONTIER:TEMPORARYUSESOFSPACE,CITYANDTHECREATIVECITYDISCOURSEIN2000sBERLIN.UniversityCollegeLondon:ofurbanaffairs.Corsten,L.(n.d.).Theroleofbonding,bridging,andlinkingaspectsofsocialcapitalinthesurrounding.Utrecht:UniversityUtrecht.Desimini,J.(January2015).LimitationsoftheTemporary:LandscapeandAbandonment.HarvardCambridge,MA,USA:SageJournals.Development,U.SDepartmentofhousingandurban.(2014,Winter).TemporaryUrbanism:AlternativetoVacantLand.RetrievedfromEvidenceMatters:https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/Drake,L.,&Lawson,L.J.(2014).Validatingverdancyorvacancy?TherelationshipofcommunityandvacantlandsintheUS.US:communityeconomies.FreeLotsAngeles.(June2015).VacantLotActivationToolkit.LosAngeles:T.R.U.S.T.SouthLosGarcia,T.(2016).TACTICALURBANISM:PLANNINGFORPEOPLE.Amsterdam:AmsterdamofAppliedsciences.Garvin,E.B.(June2013).MoreThanJustAnEyesore:LocalInsightsAndSolutionsonVacantLandAndHealth.USA:JUrbanHealth.
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For Veggies Gardens. (2017, December 9). Retrieved from Eco Outdoor: https://www.ecooutdoor.com.au/harvest/3000-acres-unlocking-vacant-land-for-veggiesgardens/Bishop,
O. (05 August 2014). Tactical Urbanism: The New Vernacular of the Creative City. Wiley Online Library.Nemeth, J. (2013). Rethinking urban transformation: Temporary uses for vacant land. Denever: Science Direct.Neometro. (n.d.). Neometro Achieves ReCertification as a B Corp. Retrieved from open journal: http:// openjournal.com.au/neometro-achieves-recertification-as-a-b-corp-2/O’Callaghan,C.andLawton,P.(2015).Temporarysolutions?Vacant space policy and strategies for reuse in Dublin. Dublin: Irish Geography.
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Pak, B. (January 2017). Strategies and Tools for Enabling Bottom-up Practices in Architecture and Urban Design Studios. Leuven: Researchgate.
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Journals.Smet,
Immanent redevelopment likely
Vacant land/abandoned structures
Potential uses of the space
Long-vacant land or structures
Recent vacancy, likely to redevelop
progressive goals (inclusion, di versity, access)
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Development potential of the space
Non-corporate, low-capital businesses or investors likely Smaller Leftover/remnantscale parcels, small, fragmented spaces
Areas seeking redevelopment, attraction of new residents and businesses
Areas with high risk of decline and “con tagion effect”
Higher exchange value
Fixed Inflexibleinfrastructurebuiltform
More stable, secure areas
High private development interest
Role/ Influence of the city
Pragmatic, financial/economic goals Only
More stable, predictable time
Less appropriate for temporary uses
Low private development interest
Events/programmatic uses
Exploit uncertain transitional period
Growing Vibrant Cities
Trial and error, flexible approach em
Traditional planning tools successfully encouraging private investment
Higher use value
Sociallybraced
“Underutilizedquickly land” (awaiting planned development)
Area of Corporatestabilitydevelopers, big business, mu nicipal “growth regimes”
Test unfamiliar or potentially controversial Educationalideas tool to prove investment po tential of certain uses/spaces
Lack of (or poor efficacy of) public invest ment or Slow-growth/decliningincentives cities
Public ownership
Tactical” unsanctioned and transgressive uses, frequently by marginalized demo graphics, subcultures (e.g. squatting, skateboarding, emergent artists…)
Strategic” sanctioned uses catering to preferred/privileged/mainstream demographics
Already diverse, multi use environment
Larger scale
Larger, continuous spaces
Times of “disruptive, stressful, social and urban change”
GeneralClimateEconomic
Appendix
Active community/residents/non-profits/ small investors
Private ownership (*unless vacant too long
Proven solution use
Top-down, corporate interests
“Soft Desire/needcontent”to break from mono-func tional Desireenvironmentstoencourage/create new mean ings, functions, identities, and relation ships for/of a space
Top-Down master-planning
General categories More appropriate for temporary uses
High-profit, central tourist area
Owner ship of the land
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