THE ENVIRONMENT: EVERYONE'S PLAYGROUND. TACTICALLY RECLAIMING OUR SPACES

Abstract

Cities today essentially dictate the functions and qualities of spaces to best cater for the intended user. However, humans will alter their surroundings to fit their needs and identities. The adjustment process and its outcome, intentional or a by-product of their actions, is perhaps essential to instilling dynamism or supplementing our deficient micro-spaces. Through this exposition of ‘take-over’ acts, which we shall term ‘ground-up tactical reclamation’, we start to view the city as an experimental canvas for architects, artists and even the common man - the very inhabitants using city spaces. Temporal events, guerilla urban transformations, conceived through formalized avenues or as spontaneous acts by individuals, could be seen as a way to change our space, make a statement or provoke experiences within it. Deliberate interventions to activate and redraw notional boundaries of public space, could be key to enhancing the vibrancy of a ‘sterile’ landscape like in Singapore. On a tangible basis, such resident-initiatives act as ‘eyes on the street’, stemming from ground-level observations to propose and carry out solutions that urban planning misses. As perceived spaces, these experimental acts challenge the conventional acceptance of planned spaces that determine how we use given facilities. They transform obstacles into one’s playground where there is a sense of “achieved ownership” over. This paper looks into the background of this growing phenomenon of ground-up tactical reclamation in Singapore and the ways it contributes to the dynamism of its spaces. How do such spaces benefit or overlook citizens as compared to institutional curated changes? In our cautiously built environment, what makes the existence of such ground-up activated spaces appropriate and cultivatable? Beyond the curated then, this paper will distill requirements for a greater proliferation of tactical reclamation in the crafting of Singapore’s future urban-scape.