**1. Introduction**

#### **1.1 What is the public space: definition**

Public spaces are all squares, streets, marketplaces, sidewalks, public greenery, parks and other areas accessible to everyone without restriction, thus serving general use, regardless of ownership of this space. Public spaces are part of public infrastructure as defined by the Building Act. Public space is an area defined by urban resources, i.e. mainly the surrounding development. It may also be delimited by greenery (trees) or other spatial elements and methods (water surface, watercourse, etc.) [1].

We distinguish two quite different groups of public spaces, namely a group consisting of squares, streets, marketplaces or sidewalks (public spaces where mostly paved areas predominate) and a group of public green spaces (parks, small parks, park squares, other publicly accessible areas and areas with prevailing green areas) [2].

A public space can also be defined as a space for public use without restriction and regardless of ownership of the space [3].

Public space can be viewed in terms of its physical form, i.e. space, and in terms of its activities—the functions it performs [4].

The spatial characteristics of the public space consist of the following elements:


The following parameters describe the content and meaning characteristics of the public space:


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spatial terms [7].

including:

*The Role of Public Spaces in Small Municipality DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89881*

functions of public spaces:

maintenance;

events;

personal contact);

The characteristics of a public space affect and limit its functions, i.e. the possibilities of pursuing activities. Outdoor activities related to public space can be divided into necessary, optional and social. This division is related to the basic

• service—providing passage, transit to destinations outside the public area and further ensuring access to users of public areas and facilities that make up the public area (especially civic amenities and housing), including access to supply, health services and firefighters, technical infrastructure service, and

• social—meeting friends and residents to strengthen relationships (it is important nowadays when contacts using communication technologies replace

• social—meetings of residents and visitors at social events, including cultural

• residential (recreational and relaxing)—mainly provided by types of public

The perception of areas or private land lying outside the public space, which is viewed from the public space—courtyards of houses, gardens of houses, etc. is the part of the overall operation of the public space. The quality of space and function of space interact. An example of the interaction of space and function is already evident in the basic function of most public spaces, i.e. as a space intended for movement beyond a certain target. Whether a citizen or visitor uses the public space and for how long depends on the quality of the space, its characteristics, and other functions that it performs. Public spaces are currently faced with many other problems in addition to traffic pressure. These relate to the priorities of society, lifestyle, economic opportunities and many other conditions that affect public spaces.

spaces with a predominant share of greenery, especially parks [5].

The following are some of the most pressing problems of public spaces [4].

This study deals with public space in small municipalities, i.e. in municipalities of the village category. The village is the basic settlement unit in the rural area, which as the administrative unit is called rural village. The village is then usually defined by a maximum number of inhabitants, between 2000 and 5000 inhabitants [6]. It is usually a specific social community with traditional own material and spiritual culture and functions. The actual form of today's village is influenced by long-term development, both in functional and geographical and

From a spatial point of view, several different types of rural settlements can be

distinguished. The most common classification is based on works [2, 8–12]. The publication of Ref. [11] defines the basic seven types of municipalities,

• A scattered courtyard village characteristic for mountainous terrains;

• Natural type of village otherwise described as a type of mass village with irregular ground plan, characteristic especially for the oldest inhabited areas;

**1.2 Types of villages in the Czech Republic**

### *The Role of Public Spaces in Small Municipality DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89881*

*Sustainability in Urban Planning and Design*

• size and shape;

of water;

the public space:

• availability;

stay freely without restrictions;

at points of interest or lines [5];

and the presence of greenery;

sense of security of those present;

squares, and on green areas [3].

relax and include places to rest or stop;

The spatial characteristics of the public space consist of the following elements:

• the nature of the area, e.g. the proportion of paved and grass areas and the use

• the character of the development that defines the public space (closed—block, terraced, etc.; loose—free-standing houses, etc.), or buildings that are part of

• architectural quality, esthetic standards, construction and technical condition

• The parterre and everything that is perceptible in the walking eye horizon [1].

The following parameters describe the content and meaning characteristics of

• accessibility—a public space must be a place where people can walk freely or

• ability to keep people present—space must be friendly to stay and people stop

• liveliness, variety and diversity—the presence of people and the associated plenty of different objectives, as well as the diversity and interestingness of the street, square or park space itself, their division, opening and closing of views

• safety—good lighting and order and action in public spaces contribute to the

• comfort and convenience—public spaces should provide the opportunity to

• climate comfort—temperature on hot summer days is largely reduced by grown trees, street alleys and water features, especially fountains; they reduce

• continuity and interconnection with other areas—interconnection of public spaces and fluency of pedestrian movement (without barriers and unnecessary bypassing of obstacles) are important in terms of their use, both on streets and

space overheating and improve air quality in public areas;

• ability to bring people together—public spaces are meeting places;

• proposal of public space solution and quality of its implementation;

the public space (in their area), their height, volume and scale;

• type and quality of greenery and its maintenance;

of buildings and other surrounding buildings;

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The characteristics of a public space affect and limit its functions, i.e. the possibilities of pursuing activities. Outdoor activities related to public space can be divided into necessary, optional and social. This division is related to the basic functions of public spaces:


The perception of areas or private land lying outside the public space, which is viewed from the public space—courtyards of houses, gardens of houses, etc. is the part of the overall operation of the public space. The quality of space and function of space interact. An example of the interaction of space and function is already evident in the basic function of most public spaces, i.e. as a space intended for movement beyond a certain target. Whether a citizen or visitor uses the public space and for how long depends on the quality of the space, its characteristics, and other functions that it performs. Public spaces are currently faced with many other problems in addition to traffic pressure. These relate to the priorities of society, lifestyle, economic opportunities and many other conditions that affect public spaces. The following are some of the most pressing problems of public spaces [4].
