The HelloJoubert Tactical Urbanism event took place between 14–21 June 2021 and was spread across three city blocks along Joubert Street, Johannesburg CBD (between Kerk and Plein Streets). The goal of this 2-week long tactical urbanism pilot project was to test the partial to full pedestrianisation of 3 city blocks within Joubert Street.
Our conceptual development stemmed from two main questions:
- If we remove the car from the street, what space is left over?
- How can we then activate this space as positive public space for the pedestrian?
The street was activated by the implementation of street furniture and engaging activities.The street furniture was made up of reclaimed and repurposed beer crates, tyres and pallets, and included various types of seating and table arrangements, planters, tree stands, an exhibition table, a selfie booth, a mural display and hairdressing stands.The activation schedule consisted of children’s storytelling sessions in collaboration withBridgeBooks, a Joubert Street Traders Exhibition, basketball hoop shooting sessions, children’s dance classes, table tennis tournaments, skate sessions hosted by Skateistan, and a mobile testing clinic hosted by MES.
View the event overview videos here.