We are witnessing an unprecedented mobilization from countries around the world in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. While there is no denying the severity of this crisis, one could argue that the looming reality of climate change, rampant inequality or threats to democracy pose an equal, if not larger, threat to civilization. Why, then, is our response to COVID-19 so radically different from the actions we have taken to address other crises?

Tangible. Concrete. Visible.

The key factors that lead to the prioritization of the COVID-19 crisis are the same factors that underpin the need for tactical urbanism in shaping local level policy decisions in response to a range of issues. Designing and implementing pilot projects that make abstract ideas tangible is a better policy process as compared to striving for a comprehensive policy through long internal deliberation. The simple adage “Show, Don’t Tell” is an apt description of the power of tactical urbanism as a policy tool used to gather concrete data indicators and creatively adapt to feedback.

Tactical urbanism, also known as urban prototyping, is defined as “short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions to catalyze long-term change.” I was first introduced to the concept of prototyping in a graduate course at the University of Notre Dame focused on design thinking, a process which promotes the principles of empathy, creative ideation and ultimately capturing these ideas in a tangible manner. My perfectionist tendencies resisted and fought to keep my creative ideas locked inside the abstract parts of my brain until I analyzed their every dimension. This same tendency manifests itself in the resistance that many policymakers feel about innovative ideas that challenge the status quo. The abstract is comfortable, whereas the tangible entails uncertainty.