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A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open
public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, su ...
commonly found in the heart of a traditional
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
or
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
, and which is used for
community gatherings A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geogr ...
. Related concepts are the
civic center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...
, the
market square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...
and the
village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
. Most squares are
hardscape Hardscape is hard landscape materials in the built environment structures that are incorporated into a landscape. This can include paved areas, driveways, retaining walls, sleeper walls, stairs, walkways, and any other landscaping made up of ...
s suitable for open
market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...
s,
concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
s, political rallies, and other events that require firm ground. They are not necessarily a true geometric square. Being centrally located, town squares are usually surrounded by small shops such as
bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...
,
meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
markets,
cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
stores, and
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...
stores. At their center is often a
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
,
monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
,
statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...
or other feature. Those with fountains are sometimes called
fountain square A fountain square is a park or plaza in a city that features a fountain. It may stand alone or as part of a larger public park. United States In the United States, there are numerous fountain squares, many of which are actually called "fountain ...
s. The term "town square" (especially via the term "public square") is synonymous with the politics of many cultures, and the names of a certain town squares, such as the
Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...
or
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...
, have become symbolic of specific political events throughout history.


Australia

The city centre of Adelaide and the adjacent suburb of
North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...
, in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, were planned by
Colonel William Light William Light (27 April 1786 – 6 October 1839) was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He was the first Surveyor-General of the new British Province of South Australia, known for choosing the site of the colony's capi ...
in 1837. The city streets were laid out in a
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
, with the city centre including a central public square, Victoria Square, and four public squares in the centre of each quarter of the city. North Adelaide has two public squares. The city was also designed to be surrounded by park lands, and all of these features still exist today, with the squares maintained as mostly green spaces.


China

In China,
People's Square People's, branded as ''People's ViennaLine'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austro- Swiss airline headquartered in Vienna, Austria. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at ...
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. One such square,
Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains th ...
, is a famous site in Chinese history due to it being the site of the
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...
, the
Proclamation of the People's Republic of China The proclamation of the People's Republic of China was made by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The government of a new state under the CCP, formally called ...
, the
1976 Tiananmen Incident The 1976 Tiananmen incident or the April 5 Tiananmen incident () was a mass gathering and protest that took place on April 4–5, 1976, at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The incident occurred on the traditional day of mourning, the Qingm ...
, the
1989 Tiananmen Square Protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led Demonstration (people), demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsucces ...
, and all
Chinese National Day Parade The National Day Parade (), officially the National Day of the People's Republic of China Parade (), is a civil-military parade event held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, on the National Day of the ...
s.


Germany

The German word for square is , which also means "Place", and is a common term for central squares in German-speaking countries. These have been focal points of public life in towns and cities from the Middle Ages to today. Squares located opposite a Palace or Castle () are commonly named Schlossplatz. Prominent ''Plätze'' include the
Alexanderplatz (, ''Alexander Square'') is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the north-ea ...
,
Pariser Platz Pariser Platz () is a square in the historic center of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate at the end of Unter den Linden boulevard. The square is named after the French capital of Paris to commemorate the victory of the Sixth ...
and
Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag building, Reichstag (Bundestag, German Parliament Building), and ...
in Berlin,
Heldenplatz Heldenplatz () is a public space in front of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Located in the Innere Stadt borough, the President of Austria resides in the adjoining Hofburg wing, while the Federal Chancellery is on adjacent Ballhausplatz ...
in Vienna, and the Königsplatz in Munich.


Indonesia

A large open square common in villages, towns and cities of Indonesia is known as ''
alun-alun An ''alun-alun'' (Javanese language, Javanese, correctly hyphenated but occurs occasionally without hyphen; also found as ''aloen-aloen'', ''aloon-aloon'', ''aloun-aloun'', and erroneously ''alon-alon'') is a large, central, open lawn Town squa ...
''. It is a Javanese term which in modern-day Indonesia refers to the two large open squares of kraton compounds. It is typically located adjacent a mosque or a palace. It is a place for public spectacles, court celebrations and general non-court entertainments.


Iran

In traditional Persian architecture, town squares are known as maydan or meydan. A maydan is considered one of the essential features in urban planning and they are often adjacent to bazaars, large mosques and other public buildings.
Naqsh-e Jahan Square The Naqsh-e Jahan Square (), also known as the Shah Square () prior to 1979, and sometimes known as the Imam Square, is a maidan, square situated at the center of Isfahan (city), Isfahan, Iran. Constructed between 1598 and 1629, it is now an impo ...
in Isfahan and
Azadi Square Azadi Square ( ' meaning "''Freedom Square''" or "''Liberty Square''"), formerly known as Shahyad Square (Persian: میدان شهیاد ''Meydāne Šahyād'' meaning "''Remembrance of heShah Square''"), is a mainly green city square in Tehran, ...
in Tehran are examples of classic and modern squares. Several countries use the term "maidan" across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including Ukraine, in which the term became well-known globally during the
Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...
.


Italy

A () is a
city square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...
in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
, along the
Dalmatian coast Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia, th ...
and in surrounding regions. Possibly influenced by the centrality of the
Forum (Roman) A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...
to ancient Mediterranean culture, the ''piazze'' of Italy are central to most towns and cities. Shops, businesses, metro stations, and bus stops are commonly found on ''piazzas'', and in multiple locations also feature
Roman Catholic Churches The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international instituti ...
, such as in places known as the Piazza del Duomo, with the most famous perhaps being at
Duomo di Milan Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary (), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Archbis ...
, or government buildings, such as the Piazza del Quirinale adjacent from the
Quirinal Palace The Quirinal Palace ( ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outs ...
of the Italian president. The
Piazza San Marco Piazza San Marco (; ), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal Town Square, public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as ''la Piazza'' ("the Square"). The Piazzetta ("little Piazza/Square") is an ext ...
in Venice and
Piazza del Popolo Piazza del Popolo is a large Town Square, urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian language, Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the Populus, poplars (''populus'' in Latin language, Latin, ''pioppo ...
in Rome are among the world's best known. The Italian piazzas historically played a major role in the political developments of Italy in both the Italian Medieval Era and the Italian Renaissance. For example, the
Piazza della Signoria () is a w-shaped Town Square, square in front of the in Florence, Central Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called . It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reput ...
in Florence remains synonymous with the return of the
Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...
from their exile in 1530 as well as the burning at the stake of
Savonarola Savonarola is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Italian Dominican friar and reformer * Michele Savonarola (1385–), Italian physician, humanist and historian {{Surname, 2=Italian-la ...
during the
Italian Inquisition The Roman Inquisition, formally , was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes according ...
. The Italian term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish , French term , Portuguese , and German . Not to be confused, other countries use the phrase to refer to an unrelated feature of architectural or urban design, such as the "piazza" at
King's Cross station King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
or ''piazza'' as used by some in the United States, to refer to a
verandah A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...
or front
porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...
of a house or apartment, such as at George Washington's historic home
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...
. Several countries, especially around the Mediterranean Sea, feature Italian-style town squares. In Gibraltar, one such town square just off
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
's Main Street, between the Parliament Building and the
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
officially named ''
John Mackintosh Square John Mackintosh Square (colloquially The Piazza) is a main square in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It has been the centre of city life since the 14th century and takes its name from John Mackintosh, a local philanthropist. Notabl ...
'' is referred to as ''The Piazza''.


Netherlands and Belgium

In the Low Countries, squares are often called "markets" because of their usage as marketplaces. Most towns and cities in Belgium and the southern part of the Netherlands have in their historical centre a (literally "Big Market") in Dutch or (literally "Grand Square") in French (for example the Grand-Place in Brussels and the in Antwerp). The or is often the location of the town hall, hence also the political centre of the town. The Dutch word for square is ''plein'', which is another common name for squares in Dutch-speaking regions (for example Het Plein in The Hague). In the 17th and 18th centuries, another type of square emerged, the so-called ''royal square'' (, ). Such squares did not serve as a marketplace but were built in front of large palaces or public buildings to emphasise their grandeur, as well as to accommodate military parades and ceremonies, among others (for example the Place Royale, Brussels, Place Royale in Brussels and the Koningsplein in Amsterdam). Palace squares are usually more symmetrical than their older market counterparts.


Russia

In Russia, ''central square'' (, romanization of Russian, romanised: ''tsentráĺnaya plóshchad́'') is a common term for an open area in the heart of the
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
. In a number of cities, the square has no individual name and is officially designated ''Central Square'', for example Central Square (Tolyatti). The most famous central square is the monumentally-proportioned
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...
which became a synecdoche for the Soviet Union during the 20th century; nevertheless, the association with "red communism" is a back formation, since ''krásnaja'' (the term for "red") also means "beautiful" in archaic and poetic Russian, with many cities and towns throughout the region having locations with the name "Red Square."


South Korea

Gwanghwamun Plaza (Korean language, Korean: 광화문광장) also known as Gwanghwamun Square) is a public open space on Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It against the background of A Gwanghwamun Gate(Korean: 광화문). In 2009, Restoration of Gwanghwamun Gate made the gate's front space as a public plaza. The square has been renovated to modern style has new waterways & rest Areas, exhibition Hall for Excavated Cultural Assets in 2022 Aug.


Spanish-speaking countries

The Spanish language, Spanish-language term for a public square is ( or depending on the dialectal variety). It comes from Latin , with the meaning of 'broad street' or 'public square'. Ultimately coming from Ancient Greek, Greek ''plateia (hodos)'', it is a cognate of Italian and French (which has also been borrowed into English). . The term is used across Spanish-speaking territories in Spain and the Americas, as well as in the Philippines. In addition to smaller plazas, the (sometimes called in the Americas as ''Plaza de Armas'', "armament square" where troops could be mustered) of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the ''cantabile'' or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor's palace, and the or law court. The plaza might be large enough to serve as a military parade ground. At times of crisis or festival, fiestas, it serves as the gathering space for large crowds. Diminutives of include and the latter's double diminutive , which can be occasionally used as a particle in a proper noun. Like the Italian and the Portuguese , the plaza remains a center of community life that is only equaled by the market-place. A is a bullring. Shopping centers may incorporate 'plaza' into their names, and is used in some countries as a synonym for i.e. "shopping center".


United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, and especially in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and Edinburgh, a "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, sometimes known as garden squares. 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, Squares in London category. Additionally, many public squares were created in towns and cities across the UK as part of urban redevelopment following the Blitz. Squares can also be quite small and resemble courtyards, especially in the City of London.


United States

In some cities (in the United States), especially in New England, the term "square" (as its Spanish equivalent, ''plaza'') is applied to a commercial area (like Central Square (Cambridge), Central Square in 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). Many of these intersections are irregular rather than square. The ''placita'' (Spanish for "little plaza"), as it is known in the Southwestern United States, is a common feature within the boundaries of the former provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. They are a blend of Territorial Style, Hispano and Pueblo architecture, Pueblo design styles, several of which continue to be hubs for cities and towns in New Mexico, including Santa Fe Plaza, Old Town Albuquerque, Acoma Pueblo's plaza, Taos Downtown Historic District, Mesilla Plaza, Mora, New Mexico, Mora, and Las Vegas Plaza (Las Vegas, New Mexico), Las Vegas Plaza. In U.S. English, a plaza can mean one of several things: * a town square, as in the Spanish usage * "any open area usually located near urban buildings and often featuring walkways, trees and shrubs, places to sit, and sometimes shops" * a shopping center of any size * a toll plaza, where traffic must temporarily stop to pay tolls * an area adjacent to an expressway that has service facilities (such as restaurants, gas stations, and restrooms) Today's metropolitan landscapes often incorporate the plaza as a design element, or as an outcome of zoning regulations, building budgetary constraints, and the like. Sociologist William H. Whyte conducted an extensive study of plazas in New York City: his study humanized the way modern urban plazas are conceptualized, and helped usher in significant design changes in the making of plazas. They can be used to open spaces for low-income neighborhoods, and can also the overall aesthetic of the surrounding area boosting economic vitality, pedestrian mobility and safety for pedestrians. Most plazas are created out of a collaboration between local non-profit applicants and city officials which requires approval from the city. Throughout North America, words like ''place'', ''square'', or ''plaza'' frequently appear in the names of commercial developments such as shopping centers and hotels.


See also

* Cathedral Square (disambiguation), Cathedral Square * List of city squares * List of city squares by size * Urban vitality


References


External links

*
BBC.com: "The Violent History of Public Squares"

"This research initiative is an attempt to rediscover the lost or neglected urban symbols. The Urban Square is a city's 'heart and soul' and that is the focus of this project."
{{Architecture in the United States Town squares, 01 Parks Town, Square Urban public parks, . Landscape architecture Protected areas Road infrastructure Subnational parks Urban design Urban studies and planning terminology