Public Engagement Tactics in COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Street Experiments

Platial information can reflect through public engagement. Cities worldwide temporarily reallocated street space to serve as public space and active mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic, known as the pop-up bike lanes, shared streets, and outdoor dining, some of which are still running today. Despite its popularity, few articles have discussed how the government consulted with citizens to convert short-term actions into long-term transformations. We investigated the tactics of the governments to engage with the public through a phenomenological study. Using Mergel's (2013) push–pull-networking tactics framework, we analysed the public engagement practices of the governments in 24 interventions. The data sources include social media data, webpages, official documents, and supplemented with interviews. Despite the lack of public consultation due to the pandemic, government agencies engaged with the public in subsequent development phases. The street intervention locations contribute to the explanation of different public engagement structures and the varied importance of different stakeholders.