Abstract:
The paradigm of the democratic civic square is the Greek agora; originated as the open-air locus of citizens meetings, it contained stones onto which the laws of the state were carved for the public. This public space was made an element of the urban landscape, through which the public could express its collective power.
In Greek colonial cities, the agora, along with the temples, was the first place for which land was allocated. For Alexander the Great, it was unthinkable to create a city without first allocating space for an agora. As well as its civic function, the agora contained market places, and so became a versatile centre for economic, political and cultural life. The historian Jacob Burckhardt points out that Agora derives from Agheirein, to meet. (Noted by Kostoff, The City Assembled)
