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,
Platz (from
German),
plaza (from
Spanish),
piazza (from
Italian),
place (from
French), and "
maydan" (from
Persian and
Arabic).
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.
In urban planning, a city square or urban 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".
The first urban formations started appearing at least 6000 years ago. Within urban areas open public space always existed and it served a very important purpose. Along with the development of human society and the development of cities, the squares acquired more and more functions. At first, the squares were established at the crossroads of important trade routes where exchange of goods as well as ideas took place. For example, Phoenician trades–people invented numerical and linguistic pictographic inscriptions out of the need to record transactions. Another very important function of the public square was that it served as an opportunity to exercise the power of rulers with military processions and parades.
