Problem
Many of our modern public squares, though intended as lively plazas, are in fact deserted and dead.
Solution
For public squares, courts, pedestrian streets, any place where crowds are drawn together, estimate the mean number of people in the place at any given moment (P), and make the area of the place between 150P and 300P square feet.
Related Patterns
… in various places there are pedestrian areas, paved so that people will congregate there or walk up and down - Promenade (31), Small Public Squares (61), Pedestrian Street (100), Building Thoroughfare (101), Path Shape (121). It is essential to limit the sizes of these places very strictly, especially the size of areas which are paved, so that they stay alive.
Embellish the density and feeling of life with areas at the edge which are especially crowded - Street Cafe (88), Activity Pockets (124), Stair Seats (125), Private Terrace on the Street (140), Building Edge (160), Street Windows (164), Opening to the Street (165), Gallery Surround (166).
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 596.