Corobrik announces winner of Most Innovative Landscape Architecture Award

Werner Oelofse of Corobrik pictured with Frank Kleinschmidt

Kleinschmidt explains that tactical urbanism is actually a form of civic intervention that allows private citizens and communities to use low-cost, temporary measures at neighbourhood level to improve problem areas themselves. This enables them to avoid the lengthy bureaucratic and resource-intensive processes used by governments and private institutions.

The experimental board game tests how different ideas would work through creating hypothetical scenarios. Characters attempt to upgrade areas using different ideas and a limited palette of materials.

Different scenarios

When applied to a test site, the board game allows a player to evaluate the relative success of different design scenarios put forward by different characters with different agendas and resources. Then they can consider the legacy that these temporary installations leave behind.

"Exploring the nature of tactical urbanism through these scenarios broaches questions about the role of designers in urban public space and offers an alternative to normative strategic design," he explains.

Kleinschmidt used a selected site - the stretch of Foundry Road running from Salt River Station to the vehicular nexus that is Salt River Circle - to illustrate how the game could be played. Various items ranging from skate parks to a bus shelters were developed to create a more dynamic and enriched set of spaces. These scenarios were then developed into designs, each building upon each other.

His dissertation has raised interesting questions about the nature of design as well as the nature of public participation and how different methods can be employed to enrich the designer's palette.

Spatial inequality

He says that his board game shows just how various measures that fall within 'tactical urbanism' can address another global trend, namely 'spatial inequality'. Spatial inequality is defined as the development of public space that benefits certain, often more affluent, groups to the detriment of others. This determines how space is used and by whom.

This is one of South Africa's greatest challenges. Over time, people become dissatisfied with living in downtrodden areas whilst others are living in upmarket suburbs and it can contribute to social and political conflict and unrest.

"In Cape Town, spatial inequality originated largely through apartheid era strategic planning. Then, in contemporary Cape Town, this planning typically focused on large-scale infrastructure projects, requiring massive amounts of capital and the city was tasked with economic generation in areas that were already yielding returns," says Kleinschmidt.