Proxy wars, the parklet, and the university: challenges for urban design

Changes in government funding to universities require that they pursue new opportunities. Some respond by moving campus operations from suburbs to inner cities. Some draw on temporary and tactical urbanism to enhance placemaking and accessibility. In the process, they must acquire and hold a social licence, which is not guaranteed. This research involved analysing such outcomes in an in-depth account of one university’s attempt to develop a temporary parklet in a central business district as part of its own suburb-to-city relocation. That work revealed a proxy war about retail trading, vehicles and on-street parking, and universities’ fundamental purposes.