CREATING A TOWN SQUARE

This piece was prepared by Craig Hullinger and Pete Pointner.

The photos illustrate many attractive town squares. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes - a public space that can be a square, circle, triangle, or path. They provide a center for human activity and a focal meeting point for the city.

This article will discuss the merits of the Town Square, and outline steps that a community can take to develop or improve a town square. It also provides examples to illustrate a variety of design concepts.

Monumental Squares

The Plaza Mayor in Madrid is a monumental square. It is a great location for major events, but is a little too large and cold for smaller local events. Other examples of monumental squares include Red Square in Moscow, Tianenmen Square in Bejing, and St Peters Square in the Vatican. The mall in Washington DC provides this function, but with more grass than is typical for a large public square.

Small Squares

Trevi Fountain in Rome is a great attraction. There are numerous other examples around the world. They can be the focal point of a small community, or a number of them can be linked to form an interesting public open space.

Medium Squares

The Piazza del Mercato Nuovo in Florence is a very nice plaza. It is small and intimate, but permits room for shops, dining and circulation. A smaller Village can provide one square, or a larger community can link several squares with a pedestrian path.

Design Elements

The town square should be in or near the town center. It should be close to major streets and transit, but is often better if it is not adjacent to major busy highways. It should be well landscaped but much of the surface should be a hard surface facilitating walking. Some or all of the perimeter of the square should have shops and dining opportunities. It should be a focal point of the community providing a sense of identity.

Quality sculpture enhances a public square. A tall monument can bring a unifying symbol to the community. The square should be a point of pride for a community and high quality art will help that perception.

Sculpture that is incorporated into fountains is a great way to bring focus and vitality to a square. And incorporating wind, solar, motion and landscaping into a sculpture would form a great attraction.

How to Create Your Town Square

One simple way is to simply buy property downtown and create a new square. This approach is also the most expensive. It is affordable if your CBD is in decline.

For a town with substantial growth, a public private partnership can be effective. The city works with landowners and developers to create incentives to build the square. An example would be where existing buildings are two stories. If there is enough demand for new housing or commercial space, the city could rezone the property so that new taller buildings could be created while creating the town square.

Examples of Town Squares

There are many descriptions of public squares and gathering places. The use of the term town square emphasizes the following characteristics:

In or near the center of the city
It is recognized as the central gathering place for the city

One might say that town squares meeting these criteria could be characterized as public spaces for gatherings of people in the town center. But as pointed out in the text, public squares also include public gathering places for sub-areas within a large urban area or public gathering spaces associated with historic buildings or sites or unique natural features or functions. Then there are numerous urban design alternatives and questions which may distinguish what one person calls a town square and another simply a plaza, courtyard or venue for public events and gatherings.

To build on the variables previously noted consider the following:

1. The size of the square, its shape and dimensions;

2. The surfaces -- hardscape versus landscape;

3. The adjacent uses, their massing or ability to define the public space;

4. The uses of the central space, temporary or permanent, and the physical facilities and infrastructure necessary to support them;

5. Access and linkages for pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit as well as provision for automobiles; and,

6. The scale, symbolism, location and orientation of public art (including murals) interpretive mechanisms or water features.

The following is an elaboration and examples for each of these 6 considerations.

1. The size of the square is primarily determined by the area it serves and therefore the number of people likely to gather there. St. Peter’s square and other monumental squares previously described serve to allow gatherings from large urban areas or international participants.

1. St. Peter’s Square, Rome 2. Historic Sea Side Square,

San Diego

The medieval town square served as a gathering place for worshipers and was typically the site of the local market, was surrounded by a wall of buildings which defined the space, in this example triangular in shape. Sadly, many of these squares are now dominated by cars.

3. Medieval Square 4. Brussels Square with Cars

Within historic districts and shopping areas, small, more intimate spaces or courtyards allow customers of nearby shops a quiet place to sit and talk or rest. The ancient medieval walled city of Rhodes has a central square where the inhabitants could gather. Modern examples of a town square can be found in the municipality of the Villages in Florida. Each sub-area or village of this city of over 120,000 has its own town center. Each square is defined by retail and service establishments on the perimeter. In the center is a space for entertaining performances. Folding chairs are brought out and arranged on the paved surface for people to socialize and take in a performance. Each corner of each of the 3 squares has a small Tiki hut serving refreshments.

5. Town Square in the Ancient Walled City of Rhodes 6. ATown Square in the Villages

Often, the public gathering place is an adaptively used parking lot which attracts people for a farmers market or a public square around which such markets attract thousands as the sidewalks surrounding the Wisconsin state capitol. These may or may not be considered town squares.

7. St. Petersburg Farmer’s Market 8. Madison Wi. Farmer’s market

Lineal streets or aisles can also serve pedestrians and shopping functions and create unique places with identity and character but are not “town squares” as defined in this post.

9. The Plaka in Athens

And, new developments may incorporate an “Island” round-about with perimeter shopping and parking.

10. St. Armond’s Circle, Sarasota, Fl 11. Town Center in Wheaton, IL

2. The surfaces of town squares, in order to accommodate many persons, should incorporate some durable hardscapes with appropriate infrastructure though this can be of a permeable material for environmental reasons. In St. Petersburg, Florida, a large open space is defined by a stadium, elevator buildings of condos and offices and opens up on one side to a harbor with a marina and a public park land side. It is designed for parking but is converted to a farmer’s market on Saturdays.

12. St. Pete Farmer’s Market

3. The classic town square is illustrated by St. Marks in Venice which accommodates tourists for shopping, eating, resting or simply taking in the remarkable historic architecture. The observation tower can be seen from many locations in Venice and is a design element furnishing identity to the square and for the City.

13. St. Marks, Venice

In other cases, a public space is not a town square as described earlier but an elongated open space with a visual terminus which can be filled with citizens like the mall from the nation’s capital or the Washington monument in DC or the open area with a sculptural element that attracts thousands from around the world like the Vietnam Memorial.

14. A Mall in Washington DC 15. Vietnam Memorial, Washington

4. Some gathering spaces are tightly defined, some, not so. A large public gathering space is in the “Boston Commons” and though not tightly defined serves as a Town Center and there are multiple functions in this historic space and surrounding buildings. Millennium Park in downtown Chicago is connected to the Lakeshore open space. The major gathering space defined by tall buildings on two sides and an extension of the park on two sides, is further defined by a structure which arches over a grassy area and a fixed seating area for viewing performances in a large pavilion. The structure also contains the speakers to provide excellent acoustics for thousands of persons who attend free performances.

16. Boston Commons 17.Millennium Park, Chicago, IL

5. Access is important, by pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit. St. Petersburg’s farmers market, described previously, provides accommodation for bicycles and public transit as well as landscaped and generously proportioned sidewalks.

18. St. Petersburg Streetscape 19. Bicycle Accommodations

6. Design

Ahh, so important. So much can be designed into a public space to give it a unique identity. This can be a focal point, an interpretive opportunity, a photo op, or an interactive attraction. Many activities occur in the Civic Center Plaza of Chicago which has a Picasso sculpture kids love to play on. Tarpon Springs, Florida, though not a town center as presented in this article, has a public gathering place along the main street through the historic center with some room for gatherings and a sculpture and which commemorates a historic person which gives identity, serves as a photo and interpretive opportunity.

20. Picasso, Chicago Civic Center 21. Tarpon Springs Photo Op

In closing, there are many delightful public places, large and small. True town centers sometimes have evolved from historical forces but new ones must be created, designed and implemented. That takes vision, sensitivity, skill and perseverance.