Quand les professionnels de l’aménagement s’approprient l’urbanisme tactique

Stemming from civil society, tactical urbanism advocates for incremental urban interventions through the implementation of an inexpensive, quick to implement and easily adaptable prototype. Inspired by the flexibility of the approach, professionals in several cities have recently started to experiment with tactical urbanism as a new design protocol to produce public spaces because it authorizes quick adjustments of the less successful aspects in physico-spatial interventions. By bringing the concept of prototyping into the planning field, tactical urbanism represents a change in the way professionals deliver their projects. In doing so, it provides a different context for exploring how knowledge is produced by action. Building on a conceptual framework that emphasizes the link between knowledge and action in planning, the research aims to explore what characterizes the knowledge production process when planning professionals use tactical urbanism as a tool for carrying out interventions. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals who experimented with this method as part of their projects. Research shows that the use of tactical urbanism introduces a new stage – a new space-time – into the design process that promotes a form of learning by doing. During this stage, the production of empirical, experiential and normative knowledge is done in different ways: knowledge emerges i) from the prototype as a measurable object; ii) according to an alternative experience of the place that enriches the public participation process; iii) around a new space of dialogue and observation as well as iv) in a more permissive temporary context. In addition, the research notes that certain motives underlying the use of tactical urbanism by professionals (i.e. experimentation, collaboration, and demonstration) characterize knowledge production process in this context.