Tactical Urbanism: Reclaiming the Right to Use Public Spaces in Thessaloniki, Greece

During the past four decades, there has been an increasing body of knowledge examining the positive effects of pedestrian mobility on individual health, sustainable development and social inclusion. In parallel, tactical urbanism, referring to an approach to neighborhood building using short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions and policies has been manifested since 2010 an emergent trend in large cities across the world. Tactical urbanism is 'tactical' because it is driven by deliberate and organized processes; it is a form of 'urbanism' because it assigns uses to the urban space. Inspired by this trend, the purpose of this paper is to explore the processes and undertakings behind the tactical urbanism activities of the "Union for the Rights of Pedestrians" (PRU), a Non-Governmental-Organisation (NGO) in Thessaloniki. The method followed includes the following steps: i. Literature review about the role of tactical urbanism and pedestrian mobility for urban development ii. Case study analysis by means of five structured interviews with members of the PRU that organize and participate in the organisation's tactical urbanism initiatives, and iii. Development of conclusions and policy recommendations for improving the effectiveness of tactical urbanism in Thessaloniki.