The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of Barcelona
Managing the transition to sustainable urban mobility requires significant changes in planning and decision-making approaches. Urban (street) experiments, particularly Tactical Urbanism (TU), have emerged as promising tools for catalyzing these changes. However, despite their growing popularity, emp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Urban Mobility |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667091725000020 |
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| author | Franziska Schreiber |
| author_facet | Franziska Schreiber |
| author_sort | Franziska Schreiber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Managing the transition to sustainable urban mobility requires significant changes in planning and decision-making approaches. Urban (street) experiments, particularly Tactical Urbanism (TU), have emerged as promising tools for catalyzing these changes. However, despite their growing popularity, empirical studies of their long-term impacts are scarce. This paper examines the potential of TU to drive innovation in municipal planning practice, and the conditions that enable or hinder this. The study uses a longitudinal case study analysis with a mixed methods approach to reconstruct the use of TU and its impact on planning in Barcelona, Spain, between 2013 and 2023. The results show that while TU has brought about innovations and promoted changes in planning by fostering new ways of thinking, doing, and organizing among municipal planners, its impact on planning practices remains limited. The study suggests that political pressure on planners to avoid failure, bureaucratic hurdles, and the lack of (process) learning are among the main barriers to generating valuable lessons for planning and institutionalizing innovations. At the same time, the study highlights the critical role of avant-garde planners, the involvement of intermediaries, and the alignment between TU and the municipal agenda to increase the impact of TU. The research reveals important insights for planning practitioners and policy makers seeking to promote sustainable mobility transitions through TU. It also identifies directions for future research to further deepen the understanding of the complex dynamics that shape the innovation potential of TU for planning. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c6fa7c49bdf44c00adfebbc956d97146 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2667-0917 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Urban Mobility |
| spelling | doaj-art-c6fa7c49bdf44c00adfebbc956d971462025-01-11T06:42:13ZengElsevierJournal of Urban Mobility2667-09172025-06-017100100The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of BarcelonaFranziska Schreiber0Department of International Urbanism, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, GermanyManaging the transition to sustainable urban mobility requires significant changes in planning and decision-making approaches. Urban (street) experiments, particularly Tactical Urbanism (TU), have emerged as promising tools for catalyzing these changes. However, despite their growing popularity, empirical studies of their long-term impacts are scarce. This paper examines the potential of TU to drive innovation in municipal planning practice, and the conditions that enable or hinder this. The study uses a longitudinal case study analysis with a mixed methods approach to reconstruct the use of TU and its impact on planning in Barcelona, Spain, between 2013 and 2023. The results show that while TU has brought about innovations and promoted changes in planning by fostering new ways of thinking, doing, and organizing among municipal planners, its impact on planning practices remains limited. The study suggests that political pressure on planners to avoid failure, bureaucratic hurdles, and the lack of (process) learning are among the main barriers to generating valuable lessons for planning and institutionalizing innovations. At the same time, the study highlights the critical role of avant-garde planners, the involvement of intermediaries, and the alignment between TU and the municipal agenda to increase the impact of TU. The research reveals important insights for planning practitioners and policy makers seeking to promote sustainable mobility transitions through TU. It also identifies directions for future research to further deepen the understanding of the complex dynamics that shape the innovation potential of TU for planning.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667091725000020Tactical UrbanismUrban planningStreet experimentsUrban mobilityPublic space |
| spellingShingle | Franziska Schreiber The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of Barcelona Journal of Urban Mobility Tactical Urbanism Urban planning Street experiments Urban mobility Public space |
| title | The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of Barcelona |
| title_full | The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of Barcelona |
| title_fullStr | The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of Barcelona |
| title_full_unstemmed | The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of Barcelona |
| title_short | The long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice: The case of tactical urbanism in the city of Barcelona |
| title_sort | long road from urban experimentation to the transformation of urban planning practice the case of tactical urbanism in the city of barcelona |
| topic | Tactical Urbanism Urban planning Street experiments Urban mobility Public space |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667091725000020 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT franziskaschreiber thelongroadfromurbanexperimentationtothetransformationofurbanplanningpracticethecaseoftacticalurbanisminthecityofbarcelona AT franziskaschreiber longroadfromurbanexperimentationtothetransformationofurbanplanningpracticethecaseoftacticalurbanisminthecityofbarcelona |