In New Urban topologies: The Desire for Public Place in the Age of Virtual Geography in Drain Michael Jenson says that in the history of urban center in the west, the public "square" and "street" have been the predominant locations of participation in the life of the polis. Historically, this has been where political debates and conversations have taken place, domestic turmoil and celebrations have emerged, as well as the expression of unity that comes about when differing individuals begin to develop a common identity often reinforced by the aesthetic qualities and meaning associated with certain places, architecture, or urban forms.

A public space is often described in architecturally descriptive terms of an urban square where significant historical events might emerge:

"A similar idea is sometimes expressed with the more concrete phrase, Public Square, the place according to Bakhtin, where history is enacted. It stands in contrast to private spaces such as rooms, houses, and gardens, which are settings for the enactment of individual lives. The public square is a site of conflict, a heteroglossia where ‘the Nietzschean, the peasant or the student speak publicly as such.' This conjures up a useful image. Picture an open plaza overlooked by a regal balcony. In the plaza stand the people, for the moment listening; on the balcony stands the ruler, for the moment pronouncing. The people assembled in the square become public once they are able to debate among themselves and respond to the pronouncements of the state with rational protests and formal petitions."