In the context of the "new normal," the grand narrative discourse often overlooks the everyday experiences and needs of individuals. Traditional top-down planning and design is difficult to solve many social problems faced at this stage. Chinese urban development has transitioned from incremental planning to inventory renewal. The renewal of existing urban spaces necessitates the introduction of innovative methods, with tactical urbanism emerging as a typical representative of small-scale updates. This paper adopts a perspective of tactical urbanism to explore its development history, theoretical foundations, and methodological characteristics. The paper investigates the low-cost, flexible, and adaptive nature of tactical urbanism, highlighting its advantages in complementary to the strategy, promoting community participation, and offering new methods in urban renewal.