2.0 Definitions and Terminologies

2.0Definitions and Terminologies

Public Space consists of multiple elements, such as Streets, Footpaths, Open spaces (Green patches/garden/parks), Iconic/monumental buildings, Private spaces (Residential units), Public Buildings (Library, Theatre, Post office, government buildings), and Public Squares/plaza.

Figure 2: What constitutes a Public Space? (Author)

2.1 Difference between Public space and Private space

Public space is a shared space available to the public. Roads, public squares, parks and beaches are commonly called public spaces. Government buildings that are open to the public, such as public libraries, theatres are also public spaces. While not considered public property, privately owned buildings, or properties visible from the sidewalks and public thoroughfares can have an effect on the public visual landscape, such as outdoor advertisements.

Private space is the area surrounding a person that they consider to be psychologically theirs. Most people respect their personal space and experience frustration, rage, or fear when their personal space is invaded. Allowing a person to invade personal space and enter someone else's personal space is an indication of the understanding of the relationship between people. There is an intimate zone reserved for lovers, children and family members. Another area is used for conversations with colleagues, for talking with partners, and in group discussions; another area is reserved for outsiders, newly established parties, and new acquaintances; and a fourth area is used for speeches, presentations, and theatre; the range reserved for wider audiences is basically public distance. (Smith, 2012)

Figure 3: Private and Public Spaces

2.2 What are Public/Urban Spaces?

Understanding what public space is, is crucial before moving into the meaning of a public square. In other words, it is important to understand public space in order to transform it into a public square. Public space is 'external space,' 'any kind of space between buildings in cities and other localities.' These spaces are the veins that lead to the final urban concept i.e. the urban square.

A public space refers to an area or place that is open and accessible to all peoples, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. These are public gathering spaces such as plazas, squares and parks. Connecting spaces, such as sidewalks and streets, are also public spaces. In the 21st century, some even consider the virtual spaces available through the internet as a new type of public space that develops interaction and social mixing. (UNESCO, n.d.)

Figure 4: What makes a Place? (http://pps.org)

Public spaces are where people meet and interact; celebrate, socialize and discover common passions; and where they affirm their shared rights to the city. (Safer Spaces, n.d.) It is a place where friends run into each other, new friends are made and cultures are exchanged. These spaces are created and maintained by the citizens and promote social cohesion. They are accessible to all citizens regardless of their income and personal circumstances. Formal public spaces have long played an important role, on a larger scale, as presumed hubs of settlements of all kinds and as a focal point for public life, activities and events. At a smaller scale, they might simply be somewhere to relax, hang out or play while adding a visual break in the movement of streets through urban areas. These spaces allow individuals to meet on an apparent neutral basis on organized and unplanned paths, to connect with those within society. These involve family relationships (e.g. family shopping), social activities (e.g. community groups), nearby social associations (e.g. meetings with companions, neighbours and work partners) and meeting by simple excitement (for instance, strolling gatherings). By encouraging this blending, public spaces can add to the attachment of groups.

Figure 5: What makes a great public place? (http://pps.org)

Public spaces exist for several uses and in multiple forms. One can distinguish between open public spaces like beaches, parks and other natural spaces, pavements or squares and closed public spaces such as libraries, museums or religious, spiritual and heritage sites. Other spaces of public use like transport interchanges, sports grounds and recreational facilities can be either open or inside buildings. Streets or sidewalks can be considered as more ubiquitous and versatile public spaces that need to exist to promote mobility. (Safer Spaces, n.d.) When theses spaces work well, they serve as the stage for our public lives.

Any fair city or town must offer a substantial and accessible number of quality public spaces, which have accessible and useful amenities. Public space is a powerful tool for social inclusion. This is very important to cities. It means that everyone who happens to be in a city and behave responsibly is treated as equal, at least in those areas of a city that are public. One can even argue that according to the logic of freedom as a universal value, the city itself is a public space. Secure, vibrant and well-maintained – according to UN-Habitat, should be the three main characteristics of public spaces. They are much more than just 'space' that citizens can use. They add economic value, foster social stability and also give environmental and cultural benefits.

Figure 6: More than just space-quality public spaces hold great benefits for cities (http://pps.org)

2.3 What are Public Buildings?

The buildings which house our post offices, courthouses, government agencies, libraries, temples and other civic institutions are often impressive yet uninviting. They can be so much more for the neighbourhoods they serve: places that sustain daily public life, places that transcend cultural and economic differences, and places of protest and celebration.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) consultation document, Display Energy Certificates: current regime and how it could be streamlined and improved, published in 2015, points out that EU countries define ‘public buildings’ in a number of different ways:

The Czech Republic, defines public as; all buildings that are not apartments or are non-residential. Finland; those buildings which provide public services. France; a building that is occupied by a governmental body.

A building that is: 'occupied by a public authority and frequently visited by the public”. It defines ‘frequently visited by the public’ as; 'daily attendance during days of operation by people for purposes unrelated to their residence, employment, education or training.' This means for example that a school used only as a school, is not a public building because it is not daily attended by people who are neither staff nor pupils. However, a school that is also used daily for community functions is a public building.

But a building is not to be treated as a place of public resort because it is, or it contains, a shop, storehouse or warehouse, or is a dwelling to which members of the public are occasionally admitted. (Designing Buildings, 2020)

2.4 What are Public Squares/ Plazas?

The word plaza originates from Spanish and refers to "urban square”. The Dictionary of Architecture and Building Construction (Davies, 2008), rather than the previous description, describes plaza as “any large open urban space, often linked to a prestigious building.” At the same time, this dictionary describes urban square as “an urban public open space, often planted or paved, surrounded on all sides by, in front of or between buildings”. Each culture has its own terms for such open-air urban public spaces. Italians use the word piazza for square or open space and in the Turkish sense, meydan is used to mean square or large open spaces and entertainment or meeting spaces. Obviously, all these terms address a common issue, which is the open space for public use of the urban plaza/piazza/square concept. In this sense, urban squares have a social aspect with regard to their public dimension and a spatial aspect due to their physical organisation.

Nodes are the points, the strategic locations in a city in which an observer may enter and which are the focal points to and from which he moves. They may be mostly junctions, places of break in travel, crossing or intersection of routes, moments of change from one structure to another. Or, nodes can be simply concentrations that derive their value from being a condensation of some kind of use or physical character, such as a street corner or enclosed square. (Lynch, 1960) Nodes are the strategic focal points at which the observer may join, usually either the intersection of paths or the concentration of certain characteristics. But while they are conceptually small points in the picture of the city, they can in fact be large squares, or rather expanded linear forms, or even entire central districts, when the city is considered to be large enough.

They are one of the most important elements of a public space/City design. It is probably the most important way to design a good location for public and commercial buildings in cities. This has led some writers to associate the architectural grouping of buildings with and similar to the arrangement of the plaza. The square or plaza is both a building-framed area and an area built to display its buildings to the greatest advantage. Great civic compositions such as St Mark’s Square, Venice, St Peter’s Square, Rome, and the group of squares in Bath by John Wood and his son are unique in the relationship between space, the surrounding buildings and the dome of the sky; they demand an emotional and cerebral response and, as such, compare with any other art form. (J.C.Moughtin, 2003)

The types of spaces needed in a city are the settings for a civic building, the key meeting places, locations for great ceremonial activities, entertainment venues around buildings such as theatres, cinemas and cafes. The city also needs shopping areas, such as pedestrian shopping streets, arcades and markets, spaces in which offices are clustered, spaces of semi-public nature around which residential housing is organized and, finally, spaces connected to urban traffic junctions. Squares are the natural locale for community activities and representation. (J.C.Moughtin, 2003)

For its vitality and also for its visual appeal, operation in a square is significant. The physical and psychological role of the square does not depend on size or scale, but the squares provide a meeting place for people and provide reciprocal communication.

Also, squares offer a shield for users against haphazard traffic and free them from the strain of running through the network of the streets.

So, it can be concluded that squares are focal points in urban design and are an important piece of art in the fabric of any community. They represent a fraction of the total open space of a city. In addition, squares serve as the public realm and environment for the surrounding buildings. They are places where people can meet and socialize. Sometimes squares already exist, however, it can be shaped according to its users and occupants of space. They tend to shape its image, boundaries and so on. This means that users are responsible for the design of their public squares which create a sense of place and flexibility, add symbolic meanings and provide openended activities.