Tactical Urbanism and its potential to foster mobility transition on neighborhood level. Development of an institutional program that facilitates citizen-led, temporary projects in Hamburg, Germany

Abstract

Motorized vehicles are responsible for numerous environmental impacts through their emissions, noise, infrastructure, and space requirements. Not only do they drive climate change, health problems, traffic accidents, and environmental damage, but they also occupy public space in cities, directly affecting their livability. Addressing these impacts requires a holistic mobility transition that includes not only a change in fuel or mode of transportation, but also in mobility behavior and culture. Tactical Urbanism in the form of street experiments, pilot projects, and temporary demonstrations is one possible tool to overcome the challenges associated with achieving long-term transition. Time-limited, low-cost projects led by residents can demonstrate the benefits of a transformation and initiate behavioral change. Several cities around the world take advantage of Tactical Urbanism and have established their own institutional programs to facilitate action. In Hamburg, district offices and civil society have had good experiences with street experiments such as ‘Ottensen macht Platz’ or the temporarily car-free City Hall district. However, a municipal program seems to be missing. Therefore, this thesis focuses on exploring the characteristics and conditions for such a program to promote mobility transition in Hamburg’s neighborhoods. Through reviewing literature, examining case studies, and interviewing local actors, requirements are identified; namely providing a clear framework with long-term goals, creating a lasting vision, identifying funding, engaging official actors, and providing low-threshold opportunities for a variety of stakeholders to actively participate in different ways. Using these characteristics, a potential program is outlined at the end of this paper.