In recent years and particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, tactical urbanism interventions have become a popular tool for municipal planners to reallocate road space from motorised vehicle traffic to other uses. Nevertheless, such interventions are often met with resistance and become the topic of heated public debate. In this presentation, I report the findings of a media analysis of 106 newspaper articles discussing tactical urbanism interventions in Barcelona since 2020. This analysis seeks to map the main arguments put forward in favour of or against tactical urbanism measures, and identify the main narrative frames through which such measures are portrayed. Based on this exercise, I identify five main media frames on tactical urbanism, three of them negative (1.Disorder and decadence; 2.The war on cars; 3. Choking the city) and two positive (4. The new hygienism; 5.Reclaiming the street). A main point which emerges from these findings is that critiques of tactical urbanism tend to be cloaked in aesthetic and procedural terms, rather than expressing open opposition to its purported goals. Likewise, tactical urbanism is often justified through indirect appeals to public health, rather than substantial opposition to car use. These findings suggest that media narratives on tactical urbanism are highly polarised according to the ideological line of each newspaper, leading to the existence of mutually exclusive negative and positive media frames on tactical urbanism.

Dr Samuel Nello-Deakin
Autonomous University of Barcelona

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ID Abstract: 51