Major Events as Urban Planners Playgrounds
- melisnkoyuncu
- 9 Haz
- 1 dakikada okunur
Concerts, festivals, celebrations, protests, and forums... major events are fundamental yet ephemeral aspects of our metropolitan life. Beyond resurfacing the joy of placemaking, these events hold the potential to be a temporary playground for planners to test innovative or challenging planning ideas on-site and crowd-test their impacts.
Inspired by a cool example yesterday; in response to the bustling crowd at the Guns N' Roses concert that took place in Beşiktaş Stadium in İstanbul, one lane surrounding the stadium was temporarily dedicated to pedestrian use for approx. 8 hours including the PM peak hours. Drawing upon the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) Phase-I in 2016, similar lanes were also prioritized as micromobility lanes by Istanbul. These temporary interventions mirrored an earlier planning vision and presented an opportunity to experience it for a temporary timeline. This joyful experience illustrates how major events can act as living laboratories—providing controlled, time-bound conditions to crowd-test interventions such as pedestrianization, temporary cycling lanes, or public transport prioritization.
Even though the creative potential of major events in the city is remarkable, it requires coordinated, strategic collaboration between diverse stakeholders especially urban planners, event coordinators, and local authorities to co-design and evaluate pilot interventions to leverage major placemaking activities. By treating these events not only as logistical challenges but also as opportunities for tactical/guerilla urbanism, cities can transform these temporary adaptations into long-term, people-centered solutions.
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