This paper addresses one of the most symbolically and socially meaningful elements of the public open space: the urban square (Portuguese: praça). Besides their urban centrality, these spaces’ potential for liveliness depends on multiple factors and their identity as a place may only be grasped by formal methods that embrace that latent complexity and address the multi?scale and multivariate correlations of factors that defy human cognitive capabilities. This paper will present a synchronic multidimensional analysis of three Portuguese historic squares: Praça da Oliveira, Praça de Santiago (Guimarães) and Praça do Giraldo (Évora), representative of the national historic heritage.

--

Public open space,Urban squares morphology,Public‐private interface,Syntactic analysis,Multidimensional analysis

• Ciências Físicas - Ciências Naturais