square

in urban design, a planned open area framed by buildings, structures, or greenery and forming part of a system of other urban areas.

The predecessors of the city square were the main courtyards of the palace and temple complexes of Crete, Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria. Their rectangular, enclosed plan was transmitted to the Greek agoras and the Roman forums. The squares of European cities of the 12th to 14th centuries were similarly enclosed but almost always irregular in plan; the main square was the marketplace.

During the Renaissance, squares usually had a perimeter in the shape of a rectilinear geometrical figure such as a rectangle or trapezoid. Squares for public gatherings became very important; these were faced by the municipal government building and the loggia, where the patriciate held meetings. Baroque architecture introduced squares in the form of circles, polygons, and complex figures into urban planning.

In Russian medieval cities, the kremlin squares, marketplaces, and cathedral squares played an important social and urban-planning role. In the 18th century, open squares became widespread. Outstanding examples of squares for different purposes were created by architects of the classical era in Russia in the last third of the 18th and the first third of the 19th century.

In modern urban planning, squares are of two types: those for vehicular traffic and those for pedestrians. Squares designed for traffic serve as urban traffic junctions; those with heavy traffic are sometimes built in several tiers—at street level, underground, and overhead—so that traffic may be diverted to different levels. Squares for traffic often have specialized purposes: they may be located in front of railroad stations, in which case the flow of passengers arriving and departing must be regulated. When squares with large parking areas are located in front of large factories, stadiums, places of entertainment, and exhibition halls, the flow of persons arriving must be separated from the flow of persons leaving.

Squares designed primarily for pedestrians may also be specialized. Examples are main squares, used for public events and displays; theater squares; marketplaces; and memorial squares honoring important historical events and outstanding statesmen, scientists, and artists. Memorial squares, which often contain large-scale sculptures and paintings, are sometimes outstanding architectural ensembles that greatly influence the appearance of urban areas. Main squares or systems of main squares forming the nucleus of a city’s center are generally large and have impressive, large-scale structures such as government and municipal buildings. These squares are used for parades, holiday demonstrations, meetings, and public celebrations.

In modern urban planning, special parking areas are located near main public squares that have buildings used by large numbers of workers, spectators, and visitors. Squares of various types may have planted areas, usually parterres, in their center, along their perimeter, or in both locations. In park- and garden-like squares, the parterre is usually combined with topiary or with natural wooded areas of massed greenery surrounding the square.