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Town square |
Public square and city square redirect here. For Public Square, Cleveland, see Public Square and for City Square in Leeds see Leeds City Square.
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Please wikify this article or section. Help improve this article by adding relevant internal links. (June 2008) |
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A town square is an open area commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, plaza (from Spanish), piazza (from Italian), and place (from French).
Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets, music concerts, political rallies, and other events that require firm ground. Being centrally located, town squares are usually surrounded by small shops such as bakeries, meat markets, cheese stores, and clothing stores. At their center is often a fountain, well, monument, or statue. Many of those with fountains are actually named Fountain Square.
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In urban planning, a city square is a planned open area in a city, usually or originally rectangular in shape. Some city squares are large enough that they act as a sort of "national square".
In the United States, a town square typically consists of a park or plaza in front of the original county courthouse or town hall.
In some cities, especially in New England in the U.S., the term "square" (as its Spanish equivalent, Plaza) is applied to a commercial area (e.g., Central Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts), usually formed around the intersection of three or more streets, and which originally consisted of some open area (many of which have been filled in with traffic islands and other traffic calming features).
In the United Kingdom, and especially in London and Edinburgh "square" has a wider meaning. There are public squares of the type described above but the term is also used for formal open spaces surrounded by houses with private gardens at the centre. Most of these were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. In some cases the gardens are now open to the public. See the Squares in London category.
In Mainland China, People's Square is a common designation for the central town square of modern Chinese cities, established as part of urban modernization within the last few decades. These squares are the site of government buildings, museums and other public buildings. The probably best-known and largest such square in China is the Shanghai People's Square.
In Russia, central square (Russian: центра́льная пло́щадь, romanised: tsentráĺnaya plóshchad́) is a common term for an open area in the heart of the town used for community gatherings. Often it has no official name or is informally referred to as central square. The name of the town can be added to specify the meaning. Central squares are usually located opposite the administration building or some major landmark, e.g. a Great Patriotic War memorial or a cathedral.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Urban squares |
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