In a period of significant changes caused by economic and ecological crisis, the adaptability of urban planning becomes a necessity. Temporary planning takes place on abandoned urban spaces which sit between old and new purposes and it can be seen as an important step in defining a future project. Temporary planning can be considered a tool to promote the development of urban areas to be more in line with the needs of residents and users and provide a means to experiment new cultural and social forms. Understanding the context plays a key role in the effectiveness of planning proposals which are able to reveal spaces and practices. Many local authorities are seeking, at present, to define methods to involve people in the project process; temporary urbanism offers to citizens the opportunity to take part in the making of urban space. It allows players, and not only the economic ones, to change their vision of the project, to assess its various stages and to support the gradual transition of a particular space. Contemporary urban planning is based on a new paradigm, thinking the city by their uses. Urban abandoned spaces, as latent public spaces, are ideal places for spontaneous or planned citizens’ investments. Temporary urbanism gives a particularly effective interpretation of such spaces as shown by two experiments in Marseille and Clermont-Ferrand.