Two Downtown MARTA Stations could get a revamp using "tactical urbanism" by Amber Hawkes

Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District put out a call on March 21, 2014 to find consulting firms to help modernize two  of Downtown’s busiest MARTA rail stations – Five Points and Garnett. In the call for assistance, CAP/ADID said they want “creative placemaking” and “tactical urbanism” to transform the appearance and experience of the two stations.

Read Article

Livable Memphis to host community meeting on 'tactical urbanism' by Amber Hawkes

Read about Livable Memphis' Guerilla approach to raise awareness about street safety and design.  The group has mounted pedestrian flags at busy crosswalks as an example of do-it-yourself improvements neighborhoods can make. More ideas will be shared Saturday at the Livable Memphis Annual Summit.  The nonprofit organization supports the development and redevelopment of healthy, economically sustainable communities.

Read Article

The Project for 'Lean Urbanism' by Shannon Davis

You've probably heard of Tactical Urbanism and New Urbanism, but have you ever heard of 'Lean Urbanism'? This new term, coined by Andrés Duany, has recently made a buzz in the planning community by receiving a $600,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to jump start "The Project for Lean Urbanism". 

So what exactly is 'Lean Urbanism'? 

Andrés Duany explains that, 

"Lean Urbanism [...] focuses on revitalizing cities by finding ways for people to participate in community-building—specifically, by enabling everyday people to get things done"

He uses Detroit as a great example of what Lean Urbanism could achieve. Due to the city's financial woes, the city can no longer maintain some of its regulatory processes creating less red tape in the development process. Which essentially created "Pink Zones", areas in the city which are exempt from development code regulations. This has empowered many immigrant and young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, fixing buildings, and revitlalizating their own community. 

Read Article

The goal of the Project for Lean Urbanism, is to collect case studies, develop tools, and then test them in pilot projects. The Knight Foundation intends to share their findings from the project.