URBACT TactiCity

Project 

The URBACT TactiCity project aims to strengthen and apply the experience gained by the Municipality of Milan from its “Open Squares” initiatives and tactical urbanism interventions at a local level.

Through TactiCity, the European cities within the network, under the coordination of Milan, will have the opportunity to experiment with, adapt, and scale up low-cost but high-impact urban solutions.

These actions will contribute to improving the quality of urban life and promoting sustainability by actively involving citizens in the design of public spaces and in political decisions through participatory processes.

TactiCity offers cities a concrete opportunity to develop sustainable and participatory interventions, utilizing a methodological guide inspired by Milan’s experiences. By adopting tactical urbanism solutions, cities will be able to initiate inclusive, transformative processes that enhance the active role of citizens in redesigning public space and urban policies. The case of Milan demonstrates how a participatory approach can guide political decisions and foster a more comprehensive and resilient urban development process.

Partnership

Coordinator: Municipality of Milan

Partners:

• Ostrava (Czech Republic)
• Murcia (Spain)
• Budapest (Hungary) – 12th District
• Bucharest (Romania) – 6th District
• Igoumenitsa (Greece)
• Metropole Aix Marseille Provence (France).

Objectives

Given the strategic importance of Milan’s good practice in urban planning, with specific reference to the “Open Squares in every neighborhood” and “Open Squares at every school” initiatives, the TactiCity project aims to implement good practices, such as “Citywide Tactical Urbanism,” across the network’s cities. The objective is to strengthen the capacities of the involved stakeholders by providing a structured, practical, and step-by-step methodological guide for an integrated, participatory, and locally adapted urban development.

Capitalizing on already tested interventions through co-creation and shared management among various stakeholders, the TactiCity cities will be able to experiment with, adapt, and scale up low-cost and high-impact interventions.

This will improve urban sustainability and livability by directly involving citizens in the design of public spaces and local policies.

Actions

The city of Igoumenitsa participates in TactiCity to improve its own placemaking practices through experience exchange with the other network cities. Drawing on Milan’s good practice, it addresses common challenges shared with partner cities, such as high car traffic, pollution, population density, and the residents’ difficulty in connecting with the urban space. Within the framework of TactiCity, public spaces are viewed as critical infrastructure for social inclusion and coexistence. To be truly effective, they must respond to the specific needs of people. Initiatives like the “Open Squares” program aim precisely at this: regenerating urban spaces in a participatory, sustainable, and accessible way, with a special emphasis on proximity.

Expected Results

Through TactiCity and the URBACT “Understand, Adapt, Reuse” method, network cities will explore various aspects of Milan’s good practice. They will set up a local working group with their social partners to gather data and knowledge, which are necessary to create a joint transfer roadmap that assesses potential, challenges, and local specificities.

The second phase will focus on adaptation and experimentation: each partner will begin testing solutions at a local level, inspired by best practices, through pilot events and small urban interventions. This phase will allow for the practical verification of what works and what needs revision, and will be accompanied by transnational meetings, workshops, and exchanges to consolidate learning.

Finally, in the reuse phase, partners will reflect on the experience, summarize findings, and finalize a transfer and improvement plan. The final meetings will serve to officially close the network’s operations and produce final documents, including dissemination activities.

The 3 Phases of the Project

• “Understand” Phase: Studying the good practice, designing the transfer methodology, and establishing the URBACT Local Group (ULG).
• “Adapt” Phase: Adapting the model to the local conditions of Ostrava and launching pilot tests with the involvement of local stakeholders.
• “Reuse” Phase: Finalizing pilot actions, creating a sustainability plan, sharing results publicly, and expanding to more city streets.

In summary, the method adopted by TactiCity relies heavily on creativity and co-design with active citizen participation. In this way, it strengthens cooperation between cities and ensures an effective, adaptable, and evidence-based transfer of practices, fully aligned with the goals of the URBACT program.

Total project budget: 646.075,00 Euro

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF): 451.930,00€

Project implementation period: November 01, 2025 – April 30, 2028

Links

https://urbact.eu/good-practices/citywide-tactical-urbanism-programme