Pattern 61
Small Public Squares
Context Activity Nodes30 · Promenade31 · Work Community41 · Identifiable Neighborhood14
Problem
A wide, generously laid-out square often feels empty and lifeless, even when people are moving across it. The sheer expanse swallows the few who are there instead of drawing them together.
Solution
Keep public squares small, as a rule scarcely more than about twenty meters across, so that even a handful of people there feel the place is alive rather than empty.
Usage Pedestrian Density123 · Activity Pockets124 · Positive Outdoor Space106 · Hierarchy of Open Space114 · Building Fronts122 · Stair Seats125 · Something Roughly in the Middle126