“Tactical urbanism” is a method for planning authorities or civil society to identify current needs in a city, and reallocate roads and other public spaces in a short-term, affordable, and scalable way to contribute to long-term change. This method was not favored by countries in Sub-Saharan Africa during the pandemic, who opted instead for an “infrastructure-lite” model of temporary infrastructure to facilitate walking and cycling as well as capacity-reducing requirements on road and rail based public transportation. This paper looks at why tactical urbanism was rarely considered, and why the infrastructure-lite approach may be less favorable in local contexts.
The report can be found on the High Volume Transport website by clicking on this link: https://transport-links.com/download/learning-from-covid-19-tactical-urbanism-challenges-and-opportunities-for-infrastructure-lite-in-sub-saharan-african-cities/