The Design Companion for Planning and Placemaking

14Public spaces

This chapter focuses on the sorts of spaces that we typically know as squares, but which range in form from informal street corners to grand civic set pieces.

At the larger scale, such spaces have long had an important role as the perceived centres of settlements of all types, and as the focus for public life, activities and events. At smaller scales they might simply be somewhere to rest, hang out or play, and they can provide a visual pause in the flow of streets through urban areas. They are a very important type of space for planners, often being altered or newly created through planning applications.

Since the 1980s the formal urban square has witnessed a renaissance. It has increasingly become an important component of ...