Tactical urbanism allows Nashvillians to install their own street projects to make Nashville’s roads safer and more accessible for everyone. Tactical urbanism is an action-oriented approach using temporary measures to quickly test solutions to roadway challenges in the public realm. They can be on public streets, road, alleys, sidewalks, or parking spaces.
Tactical urbanism began in Nashville in 2012 when Civic Design Center held the community’s first Park(ing) Day.
The Tactical Urbanism Guide is available to assist applicants through the process of developing, permitting, and installing tactical urbanism projects.
The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) reviews and scores tactical urbanism proposals. High-scoring proposals are eligible for funding support of up to $20,000 per project. NDOT also partners with Civic Design Center to support selected projects in bringing their ideas to life.
Application Process
From idea to installation, NDOT will support applicants through the process of their tactical urbanism project.
- Submit an Interest Form: The first step is to let NDOT know you’re interested. Fill out the Tactical Urbanism Interest Form with your idea.
- Review and Scoring: NDOT reviews proposals every three months. NDOT will notify applicants in January, April, July, and October if they meet the scoring criteria for funding and support.
- Schedule a Program Consultation: NDOT will invite you to a consultation meeting to walk through the next steps and make sure the program is a good fit.
- Create Your Design: Using the Tactical Urbanism Guide, you’ll work with the community to create a design. NDOT can offer support to get your design ready for approval.
- Submit Your Application: Once your design is ready, you’ll submit your permit application through ePermits, Nashville’s online permitting system. You’ll include supporting materials like letters of support and a neighborhood notification plan.
- NDOT Review and Approvals: NDOT will facilitate the approval and permitting process, coordinate with other departments as needed, and help you prepare for installation.
Selection Process
NDOT scores projects based on safety, mobility, placemaking, and equity. The highest scoring projects are eligible for funding and design support. Applicants may submit a proposal at any time. Staff will review all proposals submitted by the first day of the month in January, April, July, and October. The department will release the results of the scoring process by the end of that month.
Funding Support
Select projects may be eligible for a project budget of up to $20,000 as long as funding is available. Project sponsors can use funding for expenses to request purchases like paint, planters, delineators, artist fees, and traffic control.
Project sponsors are responsible for managing their budget and submitting purchase requests to NDOT. NDOT does not award funds directly to project sponsors. Instead, NDOT purchases goods and services on the sponsor’s behalf, following Metro Nashville’s procurement guidelines and using Metro-approved vendors.
