Tactical Urbanism as a New Trend in Real Estate Development

Why and how to give residents the right to vote

We already discussed the requirements of the new generation in our article 'What apartments do millennials want to live in'. Today, buyers of housing need exciting energy, and also equality, freedom, right of choice, self-understanding, and self-fulfillment. Allowing buyers/dwellers of the neighborhood to make decisions about how it will look like and involving them in its implementation sounds like a revolution in real estate development. Do you want to be at its forefront? Then it's worth paying attention to tactical urbanism.

It is also called "DIY urbanism": the environment in the city is changed for the better quickly and with little financial investment, while the residents of the city participate in its creation together with the authorities and real estate development companies.

On the scale of residential neighborhoods, tactical urbanism can also be an interesting tool offering many advantages to both the developer and buyers of apartments in the estate.

Advantages for real estate developers:

• Financial savings. Cooperation with the dwellers of the estate saves money labor in the generation of ideas and their implementation.
• Positive brand image of the developer. Involvement of the dwellers increases, loyalty to the developer's brand grows, and word of mouth starts to work.

Advantages for dwellers:

• Democracy. When deciding what the environment will be like in their "mini-town", people feel the importance of their vote.
• Good neighborliness. Involvement in the process of creating an environment, joint work, communication, and good relations between neighbors.
• Dream place. People will be able to create an environment they lacked.

Interaction technique

The main thing here is to ensure open and structured communication with the buyers of apartments in the residential neighborhood. Organize councils at the design stage, choose opinion leaders among the audience who bought the apartments, organize focus groups, jointly develop a plan and implement it together with the activists.

Examples of the process of creating the desired environment in the cities of Canada and America.

Russian experience

Applied urban studies centers appeared in Russia, where developers, together with the dwellers of their estate, create experimental spaces for recreation and leisure.

Svyatoslav Murunov, author of the technology of 'social and cultural centers', shared his experience: "We had several developers in our practice which asked us to create a local community through the design of a social and cultural center, and several existing houses (managing companies, homeowner associations), the dwellers of which wanted to do some improvement themselves (a 'tailored courtyard' service).

ОOne of the last of those projects was the design of a New Year's yard with live fir trees at Kultura residential estate (Khabarovsk, Da Development), where the dwellers planted trees themselves, "designed" their own New Year, and built some facilities – a samovaroshnaya (i.e. a place where tea prepared in a samovar, a Russian kettle, is served), a yard, and a deck bench. The process involved Mikhail Priemyshev, a professional architect (UrbanApp bureau), who, after a tactical workshop, formed the project proposals."

Joint discussion of the future yard

The process of creating a New Year's yard

Layout of the wooden deck, Kultura residential estate, Khabarovsk

Another Russian example is a real estate developer from Izhevsk that created Outdoor Garden, an experimental mini-park, together with city activists. When organizing the space, the opinion of the residents was taken into account, and the entertainment program for the park opening ceremony was prepared by the citizens of the town themselves.

The slogan of the park is 'A place is made by people'. Such trust and freedom inspire the residents of the city.

Let's pass on to specific examples: what kind of democracy can be gifted to people on the scale of a residential neighborhood.

EXAMPLE 1. ZONING

Dwellers can decide themselves where they need fences for safety, fenced areas for bicycles, and a closed private area.

EXAMPLE 2. LEISURE AND COMMUNICATION AREAS

Let the dwellers choose the places where it is more convenient for them to spend time with family, friends, and neighbors.

EXAMPLE 3. STREET ACCESSORIES

EXAMPLE 4. DESIGNING THE SCENARIO OF THE COURTYARD

Hobby groups of residents can lead to the creation of new grounds on the estate territory. A practical way to create a new environment in the courtyard is to test the format, and then to build a full-scale infrastructure.

Sports grounds

Street art grounds

Playgrounds

Music grounds

EXAMPLE 5. FESTIVALS.

People are happy to attend events organized by real estate developers. Invite them to take part in organizing a cool event in the neighborhood. It can be a gastronomic or art festival, for example.

Activities can be carried out both during the move-in period, when designing a space, or at the construction stage.

Here we covered only 5 examples of how democracy can manifest itself in a housing product, but there are many more of them. Do you want to share other examples? Write to us: pm@gmk.ru. And remember that without control levers, any freedom can turn into chaos.