SPARK Project: Tactical urbanism in Maginhawa Street, Quezon City, Philippines

Walking and cycling are often overlooked in city planning despite their growing importance as the most affordable, resilient, and clean forms of transport.

The “Sparking active mobility actions for climate-friendly cities” (SPARK) Project aims to promote active mobility strategies, policies and practices contributing to avoiding greenhouse gas emissions, improving safe connectivity in cities, and promoting climate-friendly mobility behavior through community-driven strategies in two selected cities in the Philippines: Quezon City and Pasig City.

The project utilized tactical urbanism—short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions—to test innovative ideas for long-term urban transformation, and open data for democratized and informed decision making.

In Quezon City, the project launched a tactical urbanism intervention in Maginhawa Street, an active community hub and a local food and arts hotspot that faces challenges of mobility conflicts. A stretch of Maginhawa Street was transformed temporarily, from December 2024 to February 2025, into a walkable, cyclable, and social space. After many rounds of community conversations and envisioning workshops, an experimental reduction of vehicular traffic was implemented, leading to the creation of a protected bike lane and a widened pedestrian zone.

The SPARK intervention in Quezon City officially ran from December 2024 to February 2025. The project engaged over 190 volunteers, the Quezon City Government, and eight national government agencies in its national project advisory council.

The SPARK Project (2022-2025) is implemented by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability in cooperation with the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC). The project is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUV) through their International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Learn more about the SPARK project: https://sustainablemobility.iclei.org...

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