75-711: Grand Army Plaza , originally known as Prospect Park Plaza , is a public plaza that comprises the northern corner and the main entrance of Prospect Park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn . It consists of concentric oval rings arranged as streets, with the namesake Plaza Street comprising the outer ring. The inner ring is arranged as an ovoid roadway that carries the main street – Flatbush Avenue . Eight radial roads connect Vanderbilt Avenue ; Butler Place; two separate sections of Saint John's Place; Lincoln Place; Eastern Parkway ; Prospect Park West; Union Street; and Berkeley Place. The only streets that penetrate to
150-557: A "square" has a wider meaning. There are public squares of the type described above but the term is also used for formal open spaces surrounded by houses with private gardens at the centre, sometimes known as garden squares . Most of these were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. In some cases the gardens are now open to the public. See the Squares in London category. Additionally, many public squares were created in towns and cities across
225-674: A block of 25th Street . A portion of Third Street in Santa Monica in Greater Los Angeles was converted into a pedestrian mall in the 1960s to become what is now the Third Street Promenade, a very popular shopping district located just a few blocks from the beach and Santa Monica Pier . Lincoln Road in Miami Beach , which had previously been a shopping street with traffic, was converted into
300-879: A car-free interior. Melia et al. describe this as the "limited access" type. In some cases, such as Stellwerk 60 in Cologne , there is a removable barrier, controlled by a residents' organisation. In Amsterdam, Waterwijk is a 6-hectare neighborhood where cars may only access parking areas from the streets that form the edges of the neighborhood; all of the inner areas of the neighborhood are car-free. Many cities close certain streets to automobiles, typically on weekends and especially in warm weather, to provide more urban space for recreation, and to increase foot traffic to nearby businesses. Examples include Newbury Street in Boston , and Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts (which
375-478: A city may be called a city square . Related concepts are the civic center , the market square and the village green . Most squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets , concerts , political rallies, and other events that require firm ground. They are not necessarily a true geometric square . Being centrally located, town squares are usually surrounded by small shops such as bakeries, meat markets, cheese stores, and clothing stores. At their center
450-739: A grand entrance to the Park to separate the noisy city from the calm nature of the Park. Olmsted and Vaux's design included only the Fountain of the Golden Spray and the surrounding earth embankments covered in heavy plantings. The berms still shield the local apartment buildings and the Brooklyn Central Library from the noisy traffic circle that has developed. By 1869 the Abraham Lincoln statue by Henry Kirke Brown
525-683: A marketplace but were built in front of large palaces or public buildings to emphasise their grandeur, as well as to accommodate military parades and ceremonies, among others (for example the Place Royale in Brussels and the Koningsplein in Amsterdam ). Palace squares are usually more symmetrical than their older market counterparts. In Russia, central square ( Russian : центра́льная пло́щадь , romanised : tsentráĺnaya plóshchad́ )
600-692: A particle in a proper noun. Like the Italian piazza and the Portuguese praça , the plaza remains a center of community life that is only equaled by the market-place. A plaza de toros is a bullring . Shopping centers may incorporate 'plaza' into their names, and plaza comercial is used in some countries as a synonym for centro comercial i.e. "shopping center". In the United Kingdom, and especially in London and Edinburgh ,
675-600: A pedestrian only street in 1960. The designer was Morris Lapidus. Lincoln Road Mall is now one of the main attractions in Miami Beach. The idea of exclusive pedestrian zones lost popularity through the 1980s and into the 1990s and results were generally disappointing, but are enjoying a renaissance with the 1989 renovation and relaunch of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California ,
750-479: A plaza can mean one of several things: Today's metropolitan landscapes often incorporate the plaza as a design element, or as an outcome of zoning regulations, building budgetary constraints, and the like. Sociologist William H. Whyte conducted an extensive study of plazas in New York City : his study humanized the way modern urban plazas are conceptualized, and helped usher in significant design changes in
825-623: A single square to entire districts, but with highly variable degrees of dependence on cars for their broader transport links. Pedestrian zones have a great variety of approaches to human-powered vehicles such as bicycles , inline skates , skateboards and kick scooters . Some have a total ban on anything with wheels, others ban certain categories, others segregate the human-powered wheels from foot traffic, and others still have no rules at all. Many Middle Eastern kasbahs have no motorized traffic, but use donkey - or hand- carts to carry goods. The idea of separating pedestrians from wheeled traffic
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#1732765352744900-471: A street or an area to pedestrian-only use is called pedestrianisation . Pedestrianisation usually aims to provide better accessibility and mobility for pedestrians, to enhance the amount of shopping and other business activities in the area or to improve the attractiveness of the local environment in terms of aesthetics, air pollution, noise and crashes involving motor vehicle with pedestrians. In some cases, motor traffic in surrounding areas increases, as it
975-460: Is a back formation, since krásnaja (the term for "red") also means "beautiful" in archaic and poetic Russian, with many cities and towns throughout the region having locations with the name "Red Square." Gwanghwamun Plaza ( Korean : 광화문광장) also known as Gwanghwamun Square) is a public open space on Sejongno , Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It against the background of A Gwanghwamun Gate(Korean: 광화문). In 2009, Restoration of Gwanghwamun Gate made
1050-675: Is a cognate of Italian piazza and French place (which has also been borrowed into English). The term is used across Spanish-speaking territories in Spain and the Americas, as well as in the Philippines . In addition to smaller plazas, the Plaza Mayor (sometimes called in the Americas as Plaza de Armas , "armament square" where troops could be mustered) of each center of administration held three closely related institutions:
1125-470: Is a common term for an open area in the heart of the town . In a number of cities, the square has no individual name and is officially designated Central Square , for example Central Square (Tolyatti) . The most famous central square is the monumentally-proportioned Red Square which became a synecdoche for the Soviet Union during the 20th century; nevertheless, the association with "red communism"
1200-848: Is along a river). In some cases, popularity has resulted in streets being permanently closed to cars, including JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park , San Francisco ; Griffith Drive in Griffith Park , Los Angeles ; and Capel Street in Dublin. Several studies have been carried out on European carfree developments. The most comprehensive was conducted in 2000 by Jan Scheurer. Other more recent studies have been made of specific car-free areas such as Vienna's Floridsdorf car-free development. Characteristics of car-free developments: The main benefits found for car-free developments: The main problems related to parking management. Where parking
1275-562: Is an old one, dating back at least to the Renaissance . However, the earliest modern implementation of the idea in cities seems to date from about 1800, when the first covered shopping arcade was opened in Paris . Separated shopping arcades were constructed throughout Europe in the 19th century, precursors of modern shopping malls. A number of architects and city planners, including Joseph Paxton , Ebenezer Howard , and Clarence Stein , in
1350-404: Is centered on Strøget , which is not a single street but a series of interconnected avenues which create a very large pedestrian zone, although it is crossed in places by streets with vehicular traffic. Most of these zones allow delivery trucks to service the businesses there during the early morning, and street-cleaning vehicles will usually go through these streets after most shops have closed for
1425-460: Is different from a typical pedestrian zone, in that it implies a development largely predicated on modes of transport other than the car. A number of towns and cities in Europe have never allowed motor vehicles . Archetypal examples are: Other examples are: To assist with transport from the car parks in at the edge of car-free cities, there are often bus stations, bicycle sharing stations, and
1500-434: Is displaced rather than replaced. Nonetheless, pedestrianisation schemes are often associated with significant falls in local air and noise pollution and in accidents, and frequently with increased retail turnover and increased property values locally. A car-free development generally implies a large-scale pedestrianised area that relies on modes of transport other than the car, while pedestrian zones may vary in size from
1575-601: Is known in the Southwestern United States , is a common feature within the boundaries of the former provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo México . They are a blend of Hispano and Pueblo design styles, several of which continue to be hubs for cities and towns in New Mexico , including Santa Fe Plaza , Old Town Albuquerque , Acoma Pueblo 's plaza, Taos Downtown Historic District , Mesilla Plaza , Mora , and Las Vegas Plaza . In U.S. English ,
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#17327653527441650-568: Is not controlled in the surrounding area, this often results in complaints from neighbours about overspill parking . There were calls for traffic to be reinstated in Trafalgar Square , London, after pedestrianization caused noise nuisance for visitors to the National Gallery . The director of the gallery is reported to have blamed pedestrianization for the "trashing of a civic space". Local shopkeepers may be critical of
1725-483: Is often a well , monument , statue or other feature. Those with fountains are sometimes called fountain squares . The term "town square" (especially via the term "public square") is synonymous with the politics of many cultures, and the names of a certain town squares, such as the Euromaidan or Red Square , have become symbolic of specific political events throughout history. The city centre of Adelaide and
1800-797: Is referred to as The Piazza. In the Low Countries , squares are often called "markets" because of their usage as marketplaces . Most towns and cities in Belgium and the southern part of the Netherlands have in their historical centre a Grote Markt (literally "Big Market") in Dutch or Grand-Place (literally "Grand Square") in French (for example the Grand-Place in Brussels and
1875-720: The Grote Markt in Antwerp ). The Grote Markt or Grand-Place is often the location of the town hall , hence also the political centre of the town. The Dutch word for square is plein , which is another common name for squares in Dutch-speaking regions (for example Het Plein in The Hague ). In the 17th and 18th centuries, another type of square emerged, the so-called royal square (French: Place royale , Dutch: Koningsplein ). Such squares did not serve as
1950-515: The BMT Brighton Line is several blocks northwest. The B67 and B69 buses stop at Union Street and 7th Avenue, two blocks north, while the B41 bus stops on Flatbush Avenue. Plaza A town square (also a plaza , public square or urban square ) is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town , and which is used for community gatherings. A square in
2025-639: The Gay Village in Montreal . Algonquin and Ward's Islands, parts of the Toronto Islands group, are also car-free zones for all 700 residents. Since summer 2004, Toronto has also been experimenting with " Pedestrian Sundays " [1] in its busy Kensington Market . Granville Mall in Halifax, Nova Scotia was a run-down section of buildings on Granville Street built in the 1840s that was restored in
2100-706: The Greenmarket program of GrowNYC is held on the plaza in front of Prospect Park every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The station is served by two New York City Subway stations and multiple bus routes. The Grand Army Plaza station ( 2 and 3 trains), built in 1920 on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line , is on the north end of the Plaza, while the Seventh Avenue station ( B and Q trains) on
2175-449: The cathedral , the cantabile or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor's palace , and the audiencia or law court. The plaza might be large enough to serve as a military parade ground. At times of crisis or fiestas , it serves as the gathering space for large crowds. Diminutives of plaza include plazuela and the latter's double diminutive plazoleta , which can be occasionally used as
2250-580: The piazze of Italy are central to most towns and cities. Shops, businesses, metro stations, and bus stops are commonly found on piazzas, and in multiple locations also feature Roman Catholic Churches , such as in places known as the Piazza del Duomo , with the most famous perhaps being at Duomo di Milan , or government buildings, such as the Piazza del Quirinale adjacent from the Quirinal Palace of
2325-481: The 1990s at the request of the retailers. Half of Kalamazoo's pedestrian mall has been converted into a regular street with auto traffic, though with wide sidewalks. Mackinac Island , between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, banned horseless carriages in 1896, making it auto-free. The original ban still stands, except for emergency vehicles. Travel on the island is largely by foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage. An 8-mile (13 km) road, M-185 rings
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2400-484: The 1994-5 Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas and recent pedestrianization of various streets in New York City . These pedestrian zones were more closely tied to the success of retail than in Europe, and by the 1980s, most did not succeed competing with ever more elaborate enclosed malls. Almost all of this generation of pedestrian malls built from 1959 through to the 1970s, have disappeared, or were shrunk down in
2475-522: The 19th and early 20th centuries proposed plans to separate pedestrians from traffic in various new developments. The first "pedestrianisation" of an existing street seems to have taken place "around 1929" in Essen , Germany. This was in Limbecker Straße, a very narrow shopping street that could not accommodate both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Two other German cities followed this model in
2550-510: The Arch forms the largest and busiest traffic circle in Brooklyn, being the convergence of Flatbush Avenue , Vanderbilt Avenue, Eastern Parkway , Prospect Park West, and Union Street. In 1927, Brooklyn's "Death-O-Meter", a sign admonishing drivers to "Slow Up" and displaying a continually updated tally of traffic accident deaths in the borough, was installed. A popular farmer's market, part of
2625-773: The Italian president. The Piazza San Marco in Venice and Piazza del Popolo in Rome are among the world's best known. The Italian piazzas historically played a major role in the political developments of Italy in both the Italian Medieval Era and the Italian Renaissance. For example, the Piazza della Signoria in Florence remains synonymous with the return of the Medici from their exile in 1530 as well as
2700-534: The Manifesto for the Reorganisation of the city, written by architecture and urban theorist Massimo Paolini and signed by 160 academics and 300 architects. A pedestrian zone is often limited in scope: for example, a single square or a few streets reserved for pedestrians, within a city where residents still largely get around in cars. A car-free town, city or region may be much larger. A car-free zone
2775-790: The Middle Ages to today. Squares located opposite a Palace or Castle ( German : Schloss ) are commonly named Schlossplatz . Prominent Plätze include the Alexanderplatz , Pariser Platz and Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Heldenplatz in Vienna, and the Königsplatz in Munich. A large open square common in villages, towns and cities of Indonesia is known as alun-alun . It is a Javanese term which in modern-day Indonesia refers to
2850-875: The UK as part of urban redevelopment following the Blitz . Squares can also be quite small and resemble courtyards, especially in the City of London . In some cities, especially in New England , the term "square" (as its Spanish equivalent, plaza ) is applied to a commercial area (like Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts ), usually formed around the intersection of three or more streets, and which originally consisted of some open area (many of which have been filled in with traffic islands and other traffic calming features). Many of these intersections are irregular rather than square. The placita (Spanish for "little plaza"), as it
2925-607: The United States, several pedestrian zones in major tourist areas were successful, such as the renovation of the mall in Santa Monica on Los Angeles' Westside and its relaunch as the Third Street Promenade ; the creation of the covered, pedestrian Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas ; the revival of East 4th Street in Downtown Cleveland ; and the new pedestrian zone created in
3000-662: The United States, to refer to a verandah or front porch of a house or apartment, such as at George Washington's historic home Mount Vernon . Several countries, especially around the Mediterranean Sea, feature Italian-style town squares. In Gibraltar, one such town square just off Gibraltar 's Main Street , between the Parliament Building and the City Hall officially named John Mackintosh Square
3075-515: The adjacent suburb of North Adelaide , in South Australia, were planned by Colonel William Light in 1837. The city streets were laid out in a grid plan , with the city centre including a central public square, Victoria Square , and four public squares in the centre of each quarter of the city. North Adelaide has two public squares. The city was also designed to be surrounded by park lands , and all of these features still exist today, with
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3150-607: The burning at the stake of Savonarola during the Italian Inquisition . The Italian term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza , the French term place, the Portuguese praça, and the German Platz. Not to be confused, other countries use the phrase to refer to an unrelated feature of architectural or urban design, such as the "piazza" at King's Cross station in London or piazza as used by some in
3225-404: The city. In Madrid , Spain , the city pedestrianized 19 kilometres (12 miles) of streets and 235,000 square metres (58 acres) of spaces in total. The COVID-19 pandemic gave also birth to proposals for radical change in the organisation of the city, in particular Barcelona , being the pedestrianisation of the whole city and the proposal of an inversion of the concept of sidewalk two elements of
3300-455: The day and night. In Buenos Aires , some stretches of Calle Florida have been pedestrianised since 1913, which makes it one of the oldest car-free thoroughfares in the world today. Pedestrianised Florida, Lavalle and other streets contribute to a vibrant shopping and restaurant scene where street performers and tango dancers abound, streets are crossed with vehicular traffic at chamfered corners . Paquetá Island in Rio de Janeiro
3375-447: The early 1930s, but the idea was not seen outside Germany. Following the devastation of the Second World War a number of European cities implemented plans to pedestrianise city streets, although usually on a largely ad hoc basis, through the early 1950s, with little landscaping or planning. By 1955 twenty-one German cities had closed at least one street to automobile traffic, although only four were "true" pedestrian streets, designed for
3450-577: The early 1980s, the Alternative Liste für Demokratie und Umweltschutz (which later became part of Alliance 90/The Greens ) unsuccessfully campaigned to make West Berlin a car-free zone. In the Netherlands , the inner city of Arnhem has a pedestrian zone ( Dutch : voetgangersgebied ) within the boundaries of the following streets and squares: Nieuwe Plein, Willemsplein, Gele Rijdersplein, Looierstraat, Velperbinnensingel, Koningsplein, St. Catharinaplaats, Beekstraat, Walburgstraat, Turfstraat, Kleine Oord, and Nieuwe Oeverstraat. Rotterdam 's city center
3525-409: The effect of pedestrianization on their businesses. Reduced through traffic can lead to fewer customers using local businesses, depending on the environment and the area's dependence on the through traffic. A large number of European towns and cities have made part of their centres car-free since the early 1960s. These are often accompanied by car parks on the edge of the pedestrianised zone, and, in
3600-591: The first in the U.S. in 1959). Since then growth was rapid, such that by 1980 a study found that most British towns and cities had a pedestrian shopping precinct; 1,304 in total. In Istanbul , İstiklal Caddesi is a pedestrian street (except for a historic streetcar that runs along it) and a major tourist draw. Some Canadian examples are the Sparks Street Mall area of Ottawa , the Distillery District in Toronto , Scarth Street Mall in Regina , Stephen Avenue Mall in Calgary (with certain areas open to parking for permit holders) and part of Prince Arthur Street and
3675-402: The future Grand Army Plaza was in the 17th century a pass through the Heights of Guan . It played a small role in the 1776 Battle of Long Island , the biggest battle of the American Revolutionary War . The 1861 plan for Prospect Park included an elliptical plaza at the intersection of Flatbush and Ninth avenues. In 1867, the plaza was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as
3750-494: The gate's front space as a public plaza. The square has been renovated to modern style has new waterways & rest Areas, exhibition Hall for Excavated Cultural Assets in 2022 Aug. The Spanish-language term for a public square is plaza ( [ˈplasa] or [ˈplaθa] depending on the dialectal variety). It comes from Latin platea , with the meaning of 'broad street' or 'public square'. Ultimately coming from Greek πλατεῖα (ὁδός) plateia (hodos) , it
3825-430: The growing suburban shopping malls of the time. In the 1960s and 70s, over 200 towns in the United States adopted this approach. The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA is one of the longest pedestrian malls in the United States , created in 1976 and spanning nine city blocks. A number of streets and malls in New York City are now pedestrian-only, including 6½ Avenue , Fulton Street , parts of Broadway , and
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#17327653527443900-417: The historic center within the Small Ring (the ring road built on the site of the 14th-century walls ), including the Grand-Place/Grote Markt , the Place de Brouckère/De Brouckèreplein , the Boulevard Anspach/Anspachlaan , and the Place de la Bourse/Beursplein . Central Copenhagen is one of the oldest and largest: it was converted from car traffic into a pedestrian zone in 1962 as an experiment, and
3975-493: The inner ring are Flatbush Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue, Prospect Park West, Eastern Parkway, and Union Street. The plaza includes the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch ; the Bailey Fountain ; the John F. Kennedy Monument; statues of Civil War generals Gouverneur K. Warren and Henry Warner Slocum ; busts of notable Brooklyn citizens Alexander Skene and Henry W. Maxwell ; and two 12-sided gazebos with "granite Tuscan columns, Guastavino vaulting , and bronze finials". The site of
4050-400: The island, and numerous roads cover the interior. M-185 is the only highway in the United States without motorized vehicles. Fire Island in Suffolk County, New York is pedestrianised east of the Fire Island Lighthouse and west of Smith Point County Park (with the exception of emergency vehicles). Supai, Arizona , located within the Havasupai Indian Reservation is entirely car-free,
4125-460: The larger cases, park and ride schemes. Northern Avenue , located in the Kentron district of central Yerevan , is a large pedestrian avenue. The avenue was inaugurated in 2007 and is mainly home to residential buildings, offices, luxury shops and restaurants. In Belgium , Brussels implemented Europe's largest pedestrian zone (French: Le Piétonnier ), in phases starting in 2015 and will cover 50 hectares (120 acres). The area covers much of
4200-404: The late 1970s. The area was then closed off to vehicles. In the United States , these zones are commonly called pedestrian malls or pedestrian streets and today are relatively rare, with a few notable exceptions. In 1959, Kalamazoo was the first American city to implement a "pedestrian mall" in its downtown core. This became a method that some cities applied for their downtowns to compete with
4275-609: The like. The term car-free development implies a physical change: either build-up or changes to an existing built area. Melia et al. (2010) define car-free developments as "residential or mixed use developments which: This definition (which they distinguish from the more common "low car development") is based mainly on experience in North West Europe, where the movement for car-free development began. Within this definition, three types are identified: The more common form of carfree development involves some sort of physical barrier, which prevents motor vehicles from penetrating into
4350-451: The making of plazas. They can be used to open spaces for low-income neighborhoods, and can also the overall aesthetic of the surrounding area boosting economic vitality, pedestrian mobility and safety for pedestrians. Most plazas are created out of a collaboration between local non-profit applicants and city officials which requires approval from the city. Throughout North America, words like place , square , or plaza frequently appear in
4425-460: The mid-2010s in New York City including along Broadway (the street) and around Times Square . During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, some cities had made the pedestrianization of additional streets to encourage social distancing and in many cases to provide extra rooms for restaurants to serve food on patios extended into the newly available spaces. In the United States, New York City closed up to 100 miles (160 km) of streets to cars across
4500-456: The names of commercial developments such as shopping centers and hotels. Pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones , as pedestrian precincts in British English , and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or human-powered transport such as bicycles, with non-emergency motor traffic not allowed. Converting
4575-561: The night. It has grown in size from 15,800 square metres (3.9 acres) in 1962 to 95,750 square metres (23.66 acres) in 1996. A number of German islands ban or strictly limit the private use of motor vehicles. Heligoland , Hiddensee , and all but two of the East Frisian islands are car-free; Borkum and Norderney have car-free zones and strictly limit automobile use during the summer season and in certain areas, also forbidding travel at night. Some areas provide exceptions for police and emergency vehicles; Heligoland also bans bicycles. In
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#17327653527444650-751: The only community in the United States where mail is still carried out by mule. Supai is located eight miles from the nearest road, and is accessible only by foot, horse/mule, or helicopter. Culdesac Tempe , a 17-acre (0.069 square kilometers) car-free district in Tempe, Arizona , is intended to be the nation's first market-rate rental apartment district to ban its tenants from owning cars. Bikes and emergency vehicles are allowed. It has received significant investments from executives at Lyft and Opendoor . Argentina's big cities, Córdoba , Mendoza and Rosario , have lively pedestrianised street centers ( Spanish : peatonales ) combined with town squares and parks which are crowded with people walking at every hour of
4725-552: The pedestrian zone to other streets. As of 2018, Rotterdam featured three different types of pedestrian zones: "pedestrian zones", "pedestrian zones, cycling permitted outside of shopping hours", and "pedestrian zones, cycling permitted 24/7". Three exceptions to motor vehicles could apply to specific sections of these three zones, namely: "logistics allowed within window times (5 to 10:30 a.m)", "logistics allowed 24/7", and "commercial traffic allowed during market days". In Britain, shopping streets primarily for pedestrians date back to
4800-413: The plaza, previously known as Prospect Park Plaza, was renamed Grand Army Plaza to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the foundation of the Grand Army of the Republic , a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army and other military services who served in the American Civil War . In 1975, Grand Army Plaza became a National Historic Landmark . A private funding campaign in 1999
4875-470: The purpose. At this time pedestrianisation was not seen as a traffic restraint policy, but rather as a complement to customers who would arrive by car in a city centre. Pedestrianisation was also common in the United States during the 1950s and 60s as downtown businesses attempted to compete with new suburban shopping malls. However, most of these initiatives were not successful in the long term, and about 90% have been changed back to motorised areas. In
4950-459: The rerouting of some of the vast traffic flow. In November 2022, the NYCDOT started soliciting public feedback for a proposal to close Grand Army Plaza permanently to vehicular traffic, converting the plaza to a pedestrian zone . The proposed pedestrian zone would connect with Underhill and Vanderbilt Avenues; these roads are part of the city's Open Streets program, where vehicular traffic is restricted during certain times of day. The area around
5025-433: The same time, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) made improvements in accessibility, putting sidewalks and planters in many of the striped areas. These improvements made it somewhat easier and safer for pedestrians and cyclists to cross from the park to the library and to the plaza. The changes made by the NYCDOT were modest in comparison to those in the designs in the competition, most of which called for
5100-408: The site of the May Fourth Movement , the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China , the 1976 Tiananmen Incident , the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests , and all Chinese National Day Parades . The German word for square is Platz , which also means "Place", and is a common term for central squares in German-speaking countries. These have been focal points of public life in towns and cities from
5175-414: The squares maintained as mostly green spaces. In Mainland China, People's Square is a common designation for the central town square of modern Chinese cities, established as part of urban modernization within the last few decades. These squares are the site of government buildings, museums and other public buildings. One such square, Tiananmen Square , is a famous site in Chinese history due to it being
5250-406: The term "maidan" across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including Ukraine, in which the term became well-known globally during the Euromaidan . A piazza ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjattsa] ) is a city square in Italy , Malta , along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. Possibly influenced by the centrality of the Forum (Roman) to ancient Mediterranean culture,
5325-504: The thirteenth century. A 1981 study found that many Victorian and later arcades continued to be used. A third of London's 168 precincts at that time had been built before 1939, as were a tenth of the 1,304 precincts in the U.K. as a whole. Early post-1945 new towns carried on the tradition of providing some traffic-free shopping streets. However, in the conversion of traditional shopping streets to pedestrian precincts, Britain started only in 1967 (versus Germany's first conversion in 1929, or
5400-672: The two large open squares of kraton compounds. It is typically located adjacent a mosque or a palace. It is a place for public spectacles, court celebrations and general non-court entertainments. In traditional Persian architecture, town squares are known as maydan or meydan. A maydan is considered one of the essential features in urban planning and they are often adjacent to bazaars, large mosques and other public buildings. Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan and Azadi Square in Tehran are examples of classic and modern squares. Several countries use
5475-622: Was almost completely destroyed by German bombing in May 1940. The city decided to build a central shopping street, for pedestrians only, the Lijnbaan , which became Europe's first purpose-built pedestrian street. The Lijnbaan served as a model for many other such streets in the early post- World War II era, such as Warsaw , Prague , Hamburg , and the UK's first pedestrianised shopping precinct in Stevenage in 1959. Rotterdam has since expanded
5550-488: Was established to restore the monument. In 2018, keystones from the roof fell and protective barriers were placed around the monument to safeguard pedestrians. A full restoration of the arch and statue was done in 2021, sponsored by the City and Prospect Park Alliance . In 2008, a competition was held for designs to reorganize Grand Army Plaza to make it a more integral part of Prospect Park and more accessible to pedestrians. At
5625-412: Was north of the plaza fountain's stairs, and the statue was moved to the lower terrace of the park's Concert Grove in 1895. The original 1867 fountain was successively replaced by an 1873 lighted fountain , an 1897-1915 fountain for exhibitions , and the 1932 Bailey Fountain , renovated in 2006. In 1895, three bronze sculpture groups were added to the 1892 Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch . In 1926,
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