**1. Introduction**

Public spaces have always been a significant element of urban tissue [1]. Take the Greek agora, the Roman forum, or the Italian piazza as examples. However, as pointed out by Jalaladini and Oktay [2], studies on them have been neglected for a long time, mostly due to the adverse effects of urban planning. Those effects became particularly visible in the 20th century, when towns were built and developed to cater to the needs of growing vehicle traffic rather than to satisfy human needs [2–4]. We should keep in mind that "towns are places where people meet to share ideas, trade or simply rest" [5]. Public spaces are areas of social interactions [2,6]. Therefore, in the second half of the 20th century, many urban planners started to take the human dimension of public spaces into consideration [4]. Such a social approach to public spaces focused the scientific debate around actions aiming to increase their attractiveness and, as a consequence, to improve the quality of life for local inhabitants.

Ever since ancient times, public urban spaces have been used for political, military, economic, religious, and sports purposes [7]. Perhaps that is why various authors believe that public space is a basic factor used to confirm the urban character of a place and that a town or city cannot exist without shared, commonly accessible spaces [2,4,8]. Naturally, the forms, arrangement, and functions of public spaces have changed over time [9,10]. Nowadays, they are primarily used for leisure purposes [11].

**Citation:** Kami ´nska, W.; Mularczyk,M. Attractiveness of Central Public Spaces in Small Polish Towns Based on a Spatial Order Analysis. *Land* **2021**, *10*, 1327. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/land10121327

Academic Editors: Thomas B. Randrup, Thomas Panagopoulos, Krystyna Kurowska and Cezary Kowalczyk

Received: 20 September 2021 Accepted: 29 November 2021 Published: 2 December 2021

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**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Despite its long history, public space has several commonly accepted definitions, which probably resulted from the different perspectives taken by researchers from different fields of science [12] as well as from the diversity of these spaces [13]. For instance, Walzer [14] claimed that public spaces are spaces we share with people we do not know and who are not our relatives, friends, or co-workers, whereas Tibbalds [15] believed that public space is constituted by all parts of urban tissue to which the community has unlimited access. Lorens [16] (p. 83) understood this concept as "a fragment of space which, through the way it is organized and located within the urban structure, is used to enable the participants of social life to communicate directly and to fulfil other social needs of the community, remaining at the same time physically accessible for all those interested".

Many authors stress that public spaces characterise the identity and functions of a settlement unit [17], represent the inhabitants' standard of living, create the town's image, and make it more attractive for tourism, settlement, and investment [18–21].

Public spaces are created by many actors: politicians, self-governing activists, architects and planners, residents, and tourists. Public spaces consist of two subsystems: an urban system—consisting of material, anthropogenic, and natural elements of the town, and a social system—consisting of users of the town and their needs, opinions, and perceptions [8].

From the social point of view, public spaces should be accessible, fair, and safe and should ensure comfort and pleasure [4]. In the literature, we can find concepts of physical and visual accessibility [4]. Physical accessibility enables people to enter public spaces without difficulty and to take advantage of its functions, whereas visual accessibility makes watching everything happening in a given space easier [2]. Fairness of a public space means that it has features such that it can fulfil the needs of various social groups [22]. A safe public space protects its users from physical harm (natural disasters, car accidents, and crime) and also provides them with psychological safety (privacy, and not feeling socially or physically lost) [2,11,22]. A properly designed public space should allow a user to walk (walking space, a lack of physical obstacles, good-quality pavements and alleys for walking), sit (zones for sitting and benches to rest on), stand and stay (structures to lean against), look around (reasonable visual distances with open, interesting views and lighting at dusk), speak and listen (low levels of noise), and play and exercise (facilities for physical activity, working out, and playing). The users' pleasure should come from positive sensual impressions (good design and details, beautiful views, trees, plants, and water) [4].

Thus, public spaces should be functionally diversified, i.e., users can perform various activities.

Research on public spaces in towns of different sizes has shown that the accessibility and functionality of these spaces should theoretically be the same or at least similar. In practice, regarding both accessibility and functionality, as well as the aesthetic and ecological aspects, the differences are so large that they form the specific character of public spaces in small towns [23,24]. Generally, the accessibility of central public spaces in small towns is better than that in large urban centres due to urban centres being large and heavily populated [25]. Additionally, the level of functionality in public spaces in small towns is lower than that in large and medium-sized towns [26,27].

Although the literature on the subject provides relatively abundant knowledge about public spaces in large cities [28,29] and medium-sized towns [30,31], they are rarely discussed with respect to small towns [23]. We must not ignore the fact that small towns also make up a significant part of national and regional settlement units in many European countries.

For instance, in Poland, in 2019 there were 722 small towns populated by under 20,000 inhabitants, at 22% of the urban population. After World War II, as a result of dynamic socioeconomic phenomena, small towns underwent multidimensional transformations. Cities with large industrial plants or towns situated close to large factory complexes usually flourished, whereas small, peripheral towns or towns without any significant economic functions fell into states of regression or stagnation [32]. The economic situation had an impact, primarily, on the development and functioning of public spaces. In many small towns, we could observe degradation of the housing tissue and reductions in the functions of public spaces. Only after 1989 (the period of transition from a centrally controlled economy to a market economy and the rebirth of territorial self-government) could we observe a change in attitude towards shaping public spaces in small Polish towns. Local authorities undertook activities aiming to transform the main squares—often devastated and visually unattractive parts of towns—into well-kept areas, satisfying the needs of the local population and revitalising the town. The process was accelerated, on the one hand, due to Poland's accession to the European Union, which provided towns with EU funds for the revitalisation of select spaces, and on the other hand, due to the development of tourism and the resulting necessity to take care of the image of settlement units.

Public spaces may take various forms: a point (an object), a ribbon (a street or the seashore), or an area (a town square or a park). However, in the case of small towns, the town squares have the greatest influence on their identity due to their size and central location. Town squares are where several functions come together: trade, services, housing, administration, and cultural and religious functions [24].

The present spatial order of public spaces is largely related to the historical and economic conditions as well as the demographic potential and location of small urban centres. In towns where the historical (medieval) location of central squares has been preserved, revitalisation, made available with sufficient financial means, helped raise the aesthetic and functional values of the public spaces [33]. In such cases, the old town architecture generally has a positive impact on visual appeal due to the historical heritage of the town square [17]. However, even in such towns, we focus on the limited functionality of buildings, poor aesthetics, and undesirable use of public space (e.g., changing green surfaces into carparks) [17,33].

The relationship between the quality of public spaces in small towns and the level of economic development and location was presented in the study conducted by Konecka-Szydłowska [34]. When studying small towns in the agglomeration of Pozna ´n, she noted that the inhabitants were highly satisfied with the accessibility and functionality of public spaces. This is only natural because a high level of economic development generates high incomes for a given city [35,36], which can be spent on revitalisation and transforming public spaces in accordance with the requirements of a modern society [37–40]. We also stress that people inhabiting small towns situated within the area of influence of huge urban agglomerations are better educated than those in peripheral towns and are more aware of the possibility of satisfying their needs [36,41,42]. The pressure exerted on local authorities with regard to shaping public spaces makes it possible to satisfy the expectations of local communities [25,43]. On the other hand, towns situated on the peripheries and with a modest population potential have underdeveloped public spaces. They are characterised by low functionality, related to the services used by rural inhabitants rather than by urban inhabitants [44–47]. The public space of such towns is used primarily to accommodate businesses providing basic services [48,49]. Additional services occur sporadically, which is natural, because for every settlement unit to develop economically, a minimum population potential is needed: on the one hand, a market, and on the other hand, a work force [50,51].

What is interesting from a cognitive point of view are the changes in the functions and development of the main squares in the settlement units that lost and regained municipal rights (in Poland, a town is a settlement unit that possesses municipal rights, granted administratively by the Council of Ministers. The decision to give a town this status is based on five criteria. The main one is the number of inhabitants. As a rule, a town should have a minimum of 2000 inhabitants. However, in practice, many exceptions to this rule exist. An important exception is having been granted municipal rights in the past. The remaining criteria include the following: at least 60% of inhabitants must make their living from non-agricultural activity, urban areas of the town should not have farming buildings, a separate centre should be identifiable, and the necessary technical infrastructure, i.e., water and sewage systems, should be available). In such towns, the attractiveness of the public spaces is particularly important to inhabitants who typically develop close interpersonal relationships based on their knowledge of places and local communities [21,52].

In light of the remarks above, the purpose of this article is to evaluate the attractiveness of central public spaces (town squares) in select new small towns in Poland. The new small towns presented in the article are settlement units that received municipal rights in the 21st century and are populated by up to 20,000 inhabitants.

The attractiveness of town squares as public spaces was evaluated in the form of an expert assessment on the basis of direct observations (a field study). The evaluation was made from a spatial order perspective, including five elements: architectural–urban planning, functional, aesthetic, social, and green (ecological) orders. At this stage of the study, the inhabitants' opinions or needs were not considered. These will be the objects of further research.

We assumed that a town square is the town's central square surrounded by buildings [53], which consists of the surface of the town square as well as shared zones, i.e., public streets and pavements running along the edges of the town square, including the accompanying infrastructure [26].

The specific objectives of the article include evaluating the spatial order of the main squares in select new small towns in Poland and rating the architectural–urban planning, functional, social, aesthetic, and green orders, and evaluating the attractiveness of the town squares in select new small towns in Poland.

The article also has a practical purpose. The collected empirical material, if supplemented with the opinions of public space users (inhabitants and tourists) may provide a basis for introducing changes in the spatial order of the town squares in question in order to raise the attractiveness of public spaces in general. In addition, we provide further directions in the research on public spaces in small urban centres.

The results presented below fill the gap in the research on the functions and attributes of public space in units that, for decades, have functioned as rural areas, with predominantly agricultural functions.

´

### **2. Research Area**

The study included nine Polish towns in Swi ˛ etokrzyskie province (Figure 1), which is one of the few regions in Poland where the rural population is larger than the urban population. It is among the smallest and least developed regions in the country (Eastern Poland), with the lowest socioeconomic development indexes in the whole European Union. In order to decrease the differences between Eastern Poland and the remaining parts of the EU, a special development program was launched (Eastern Poland). Another characteristic feature of the province is a poorly developed settlement network. In 2019, 44 towns, 39 of which were small towns, were populated by under 20,000 people. The number of towns and their sizes in this region are unfavourable. According to research, urban centres have a considerable influence on the economic development of the surrounding rural areas, and the larger the town, the stronger and more widespread the influence [32,51]. Swi ˛ ´ etokrzyskie province is an example of a region where the development of rural areas is artificially reinforced by granting municipal rights to small settlement units.

The towns in question share several characteristic features. First, they all belong to a group of small (very small) destinations. In 2020, the number of inhabitants ranged from 338 in Opatowiec to 3167 in Radoszyce (Table 1). This group includes the two smallest towns in Poland: Opatowiec and Wi´slica (515 inhabitants). Second, all of the settlement units in question have already been given the status of a town in the past. The towns granted municipal rights the earliest (13th century) were Nowy Korczyn, Koprzywnica, and Opatowiec, whereas the one granted municipal rights the latest (16th century) was Daleszyce. Third, all of the destinations in question lost their municipal rights in the 19th century (1869–1870) due to a tsar's edict, as punishment for participating in the January Uprising (at that time, Poland had been partitioned. The towns in question were

situated in the Kingdom of Poland, which was connected to the Russian Empire due to a personal union).

**Figure 1.** The location of the towns studied in Poland and Swi ˛ ´ etokrzyskie province. Source: authors' own elaboration.

The studied settlement units functioned as towns for several hundred years. Such a long period enhanced urban features, and the towns developed some functional ties with the vicinity, mostly providing services for their agricultural hinterland [54]. Due to the short distances between them, the towns required services for only a small area, which hampered their growth. Some of them performed other important functions. For instance, Wi´slica was a centre for Polish nobility assemblies and Nowy Korczyn was where general councils of Małopolska province started to gather in the 15th century [54]. Nowadays, these places perform mainly administrative and service functions; however, some of them have well-developed tourism (Nowa Słupia and Wi´slica).

Another common feature between these settlements is that they regained their municipal rights in the 21st century. First, Daleszyce was reinstated as a town (2007); then, Stopnica was reinstated (2015). The remaining destinations obtained their status as a town in 2018–2019. This means that the majority of the urban units studied have been functioning as towns for only the last three to four years.

It is also worth mentioning that these towns struggle with demographic problems. Since they regained their municipal rights, their population has decreased (a drop by 2–3%) due to natural loss and migration outflow [32]. The shrinking of the demographic potential

decreases the level of entrepreneurship, which, in turn, results in smaller incomes and multiple social problems [35]. In addition, population ageing has become evident. In 2020, the percentage of people at the post-productive age (65+) exceeded 20% in most towns, with the only exception being Daleszyce, where senior citizens made up slightly under 19%. In contrast, in Opatowiec, nearly every third resident was at a post-productive age.


**Table 1.** Basic information about the studied towns.

Source: date from the Local Data Bank (Central Statistical Office) and provided by town and *gmina* offices.

### **3. Materials and Methods**

This study was divided into three stages: literature review, spatial order analysis, and a catalogue of town squares. The first stage involved studying the literature on the subject: public space planning in small towns, the functions and attributes of public space, and the methods of examining it. Based on the above, the aims of this work and the research questions were formulated.

The second stage involved establishing a set of indicators that define individual elements of the spatial order. The list of indicators was compiled based on the literature review and on discussions with experts about spatial planning, landscape shaping, urbanism, spatial economy, and socioeconomic geography. At this point, our own experiences and reflections as well as our familiarity with the research area were also very helpful. For many years, we have conducted research on various aspects of local and regional developments in Swi ˛ ´ etokrzyskie province, including the growth of the settlement network and rural areas [36,51,55]. We also cooperate with local self-governments and NGOs, designing developmental strategy for rural areas and tourism in this region.

The spatial order perspective was chosen because it allows for a combination of quantitative and qualitative indicators and also creates the possibility to evaluate public space from different points of view.

The attractiveness of town squares is understood as a set of urban planning– architectural, functional, social, aesthetic, and ecological features, enabling the largest possible group of users to use the public space. The principal method of evaluation was point bonitation, where a certain number of points is ascribed to individual features determining the attractiveness of the public space. Next, the points allocated to individual elements were summed up. The advantage of this procedure is that a synthetic result is obtained, which makes it possible to compare the scores obtained for the main squares in the studied towns. Moreover, this method enables the researchers to assess the features of different titres [56–58] and to run a reassessment based on new criteria, expressed by means of a different bonitation scale [56,59]. However, what often raises doubts is the choice of features and value scales adopted for them, depending on the experts' knowledge, experience, and opinions [56,59]. The point bonitation method has been used in scientific research for the evaluation of tourist attractiveness of spatial units [60,61], natural resources [58,59,62], geodiversity [56], soil quality and varieties [57,63,64], as well as spatial valorisation of land cover and objects of nature protection [65]. It is also referred

to as [56] rating score [57], bonitation score [63], scoring system [66], or weighting [67,68]. The authors are aware that this method is, to a certain degree, subjective, but this is not uncommon among qualitative methods used in scientific research [61,69–72].

Next, the town square attractiveness index was calculated according to the following formula:

$$WA = \frac{\text{The number of allocated points}}{\text{Maximum number of points}}$$

The attractiveness index ranged from 0 to 1, where 0 signifies the lowest attractiveness (it lacks attractiveness; 0 points within the framework of this research procedure) and where 1 is the highest attractiveness (maximum score). Using its value as a criterion, the authors distinguished town squares of high, medium, and low attractiveness in the following way:


The attractiveness index made it possible to reduce the number of points allocated to the town squares studied for individual types of spatial order to 0–1 as well as to indicate to what extent the spatial order of public spaces in a given town meets the maximum threshold conditions proposed in this study. A similar technique has been used in scientific research before, bringing positive results [73,74].

It was assumed that spatial order is the structures within the area that form a harmonious whole and takes into account, in orderly relationships, all the architectural– urban planning, functional, social, aesthetic, and ecological conditions and requirements [16,34,75].

It has previously been stated that spatial order consists of five elements.

### *3.1. The Architectural–Urban Planning Order*

The architectural–urban planning order is defined by the degree of spatial structural compactness (including residential areas), the cleanliness, the way the buildings are distributed, and their shape and size [76]. Another important aspect is the technical state and the condition of the existing housing tissue, the adopted building convention, the structure and proportions of the buildings, their location in relation to the street, and the colour of the elevations [77–79].

The architectural–urban planning order of the town squares was analysed based on the following elements: the shape and size of the square, the compactness of the buildings surrounding the square, the type of buildings, maintenance of the building alignment, the condition and colour of elevations, the number of overground storeys, and the occurrence of small architectural elements.

In small towns, the main square is densely built up [80]. Therefore, it should have an adequate shape and size. To be design friendly and easily accessible, the town square should have a regular—square or rectangular—shape. According to Gehl [11], its size should ensure the possibility of fulfilling various, often contradictory, needs (e.g., for intimacy and contact with other people, or for peace and quiet as well as fun, at the same time). In order to evaluate the chosen town squares, they were divided into those being regular and irregular in shapes as well as into large, medium-sized, and small squares. Large squares of a regular shape were allocated more points. Under some circumstances, an irregular shape was compensated for by the size of the square. The scores are presented in Table 2.

The next feature assessed was the compactness of residential buildings. A building facing the town square from the front is considered prestigious. Therefore, plots of land in this part of the town are usually among the most expensive. A feature of a well-developed space around the town square is the high density of buildings and a lack of unoccupied plots, which not only has an impact on the visual effect but also creates an opportunity to diversify economic activity. The lack of vacant plots of land is particularly important in small towns, as such plots are usually unesthetic and spoil the view of the whole square. We distinguished residential buildings of high, medium, and low compactness (Table 3).

**Table 2.** Town square shapes and sizes—evaluation criteria.


Source: authors' own elaboration.

**Table 3.** Architectural–urban planning order—evaluation criteria.


Source: authors' own elaboration.

The next feature taken into account when evaluating the architectural–urban planning order was the type of buildings. The buildings were divided into detached, single-family houses; semi-detached or terraced houses; multi-family houses; and other buildings (e.g., temporary constructions) [78].

Single-family detached houses were rated the best. However, as town squares are space with special, compact structures of buildings, terraced or semi-detached houses should be regarded highly. For this study, we focused on the degree of uniformity between the residential buildings. At the same time, it is worth paying attention to so-called temporary constructions (pavilions, kiosks, and caravans adapted to trading activity). They usually do not look attractive, do not match other buildings, and negatively affect the view of the whole town square. We distinguished between uniform buildings, non-uniform buildings with a small share of temporary constructions, and non-uniform buildings with a large share of temporary constructions (Table 4).

**Table 4.** Type of buildings—evaluation criteria.


Source: authors' own elaboration.

Another important feature is the maintenance of building alignment. An imaginary line demarcates the distance between the building and the frontage border. Local spatial development plans usually impose a binding and impassable building alignment [78]. In this study, we refer to the line demarcated by adjacent buildings. Maintaining this alignment has an influence on the aesthetic value of the town square and organises the surroundings (pavements, driveways, etc.) (Table 5).


**Table 5.** Building alignment and structure—evaluation criteria.

> Source: authors' own elaboration.

The next significant feature of the architectural–urban planning order assessed was the condition and colour of buildings' elevations. The state of the building is often related to its age. The front colour, however, is a controversial problem. Although it is generally assumed that flashy colours on buildings are distasteful and disturb the architectural– urban planning order, in recent years, the idea of *pastelosis* has grown. It was introduced by F. Springer [81], describing negative phenomena in the space of Polish towns and cities. *Pastelosis* is an effect of the thermal modernisation of Polish houses with the use of Styrofoam, which is later painted with pastel colours. We distinguished four categories of buildings based on their condition and colour (cf. [78]) (Table 6).

**Table 6.** The condition and colour of buildings' elevations—evaluation criteria.


Source: authors' own elaboration.

It is also important to consider uniformity with regard to the height of the buildings standing along the town square frontage, measuring it using the number of storeys. Multistorey buildings around the town square make it possible to diversify functions, which is beneficial both to the owners of the buildings and to the residents. However, from an

architectural–urban planning order perspective, it is important to achieve uniformity with regard to the height of the buildings. The scores allocated for this feature are presented in Table 7.



Source: authors' own elaboration.

The last evaluated feature in this order was the number of small architectural elements placed in the town square. These included religious elements (chapels and saints' figures), statues, and utility elements for everyday recreation (sandpits and swings) and for sanitation (litter bins) (Table 8). (According to the Construction Act from 1994 [82], small architectural elements are a set of small construction objects serving area-development purposes. Basic types of small architectural elements include (1) religious cult objects (e.g., chapels, roadside crosses and figures), (2) garden objects (e.g., statues and fountains), and (3) utility objects, for daily recreation (e.g., sandpits, swings, and benches) and for sanitation (e.g., litter bins).) Other small architectural elements are discussed when evaluating the spatial order. The criteria for allocating points were established based on the distribution of features in the towns in question.

**Table 8.** The occurrence of small architectural elements—evaluation criteria.


Source: authors' own elaboration.

The total number of points allocated for the architectural–urban planning order ranged from 0 to 18.

### *3.2. The Functional Order*

The second category of the spatial order is the functional order, referring to the comfort of living, and the co-occurrence of various functions and relations among them, such as the occurrence of service, education, and recreation facilities. A properly designed town square should ensure that regular everyday activities (e.g., going to work, to the shop, and to the bus stop), optional activities (e.g., going for a walk and using small architectural elements), and social activities (e.g., having meetings, conversing, and carrying out all kinds of activities) can be performed [11].

In order to evaluate the functional order of town squares in the towns studied, we used the following measures: the number of service outlets per 100 m of frontage length, the percentage of storeys with higher-order services out of the total number of storeys, the percentage of vacancies out of the total number of storeys, and the ratio of apartments on the ground floor to the total number of buildings. The higher-order services included financial (banking and insurance), legal, advertising, IT, realty, and health care services (doctor and dentist) (cf. [26]). The evaluation criteria were established based on the distribution of individual features in the towns in question (Table 9). The exception was the number of service outlets per 100 m of frontage length. In this case, the authors used the criteria proposed by Gehl [11].


### **Table 9.** Evaluation criteria for the functional order.

Source: authors' own elaboration.

### *3.3. The Social Order*

The third element of the spatial order is the social order, which refers to individual and collective identification with places and spaces as well as social bonds [83]. It is important that public spaces be accessible without restrictions, ensure safety for their users, and provide all kinds of facilities needed to spend time there and to develop social contacts. The measures and criteria for social order evaluation are presented in Table 10.

### *3.4. The Aesthetic Order*

Another element of the spatial order is the aesthetic order. It is the most subjective category, as it refers to the beauty of the town square space. According to Encyklopedia PWN [84], to be aesthetically pleasing means to have a pleasant, stylish look, a sense of beauty. It is difficult to state clearly what "beautiful" means. U. Eco [85] claimed that a beautiful thing is something that makes us happy if it is ours but remains beautiful even if it belongs to someone else. Bierwiaczonek [86] notes that it is commonly assumed that beauty is not what is beautiful but what is attractive to individuals. He adds that what people like usually follows the spirit of contemporary times and the ideal of beauty developed in a given epoch. It can be generally assumed that every culture has its own set of composition rules, shared by a given community [87]. It is often stated in the literature that the aesthetic order depends on the richness of information, cleanliness, and colourfulness, as well as symbols facilitating orientation and skilful navigation [88]. Therefore, in order to evaluate the aesthetic order, we adopted measures defining the level of cleanliness, the aesthetics of advertisements, and the general aesthetic impression of the town square. They were evaluated independently using a seven-degree Likert scale, where 1 signified total neglect, the highest unattractiveness (ugliness) of advertisements, and the highest unattractiveness (ugliness) of the town square space, and 7 meant cleanliness, aesthetic advertisements, and a very attractive square space. We visited the squares studied twice: in the late autumn (end of October 2020) and in the summer (July 2021). The evaluation was based on the mean ratings by two authors on both trips (Table 11).


**Table 10.** Measures and criteria for social order evaluation.

### *Land* **2021**, *10*, 1327



19

Source: authors' own elaboration.


**Table 11.** Evaluation criteria for elements of the aesthetic order.

> Source: authors' own elaboration.

The assessment of elements of the aesthetic order was difficult because it was based on subjective feelings. As one English proverb says, beauty (ugliness) lies in the eye of the beholder. However, in order to be more objective, we adopted the principle that an advertisement is attractive (pretty) if it is not damaged, is legible, and is subdued in colour. An unsightly (unattractive) advertisement is one that is illegible, made unprofessionally (by hand), flashy, and disproportionate in terms of size to the content it presents. If unsightly (unattractive) ads accounted for more than 70% of their total number, the advertising layer was assumed to be unattractive and 1–2 points were awarded on the Likert scale. In the case when ugly ads accounted for 30–70% of their total number, the authors allocated 3–5 points, whereas the share of ugly ads in the total number, being less than 30%, was rated the highest, at 6–7 points. In addition, we investigated the number of advertisements (information chaos), their arrangement, and the uniformity in design (cf. [89]). Similar assumptions were made when assessing the overall aesthetic impression that a square made. In the absence of harmony between individual elements of spatial order, visible neglect of the square (broken benches, littered alleys, rusty parts of fountains, lack of greenery, flowers, etc.) was assessed as very ugly, with 1 point awarded on the Likert scale. Along with the authors' growing positive aesthetic impression, the number of points also increased. This stage of research was the most difficult. When can you say that something is ugly (beautiful)? You know it when you see it (the phrase "I know it when I see it" was used in 1964 by United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart [89]) Beauty is a value that entails harmony, moderation, and balance. It requires abundance but not overload, and simplicity but not meagreness or monotony [90].

### *3.5. The Green Order*

The last element of the spatial order in the town squares studied was the green order, referring to valuing the natural environment [83,91]. In order to evaluate the green order of the town squares in small towns, we adopted measures related to the size and type of green areas (trees, bushes, and flower beds) and the presence of small architectural elements, such as fountains and small ponds (Table 12). The criteria for allocating points were based on the distribution of individual features in the studied towns.


**Table 12.** Criteria in the evaluation of green-order elements.

> Source: authors' own elaboration.

The total of these five elements of public spaces was the basis for the evaluation of their attractiveness in small towns. However, we stress that making a clear classification of all five categories of order is difficult [72]. Some of the measures mentioned above may describe the functional and social, architectural–urban planning, aesthetic, green, social, and functional orders at the same time.

We assumed that all of the features described above are equally important for the spatial order of public space, so we did not diversify them with the use of ranks. This mainly resulted from the fact that public spaces in the studied towns are generally underdeveloped, and some features do not occur at all (e.g., functional elements such as bike paths); diversifying the features by means of ranks was not justified from the point of view of the research process. It should also be noted that the predominant assumption found in the literature on the subject is that all of the components of spatial order are equally important for the functioning of a public space. Without well-developed elements of the urban planning–architectural or social orders, the main squares in small towns would not perform the basic functions of a public space, similar to the ecological and aesthetic orders [33,34,92].

The third stage in the research was a field study, which involved making a detailed catalogue of town squares in the studied towns. The researchers prepared an inventory card for each building, including the measures described above (Table 13). They prepared a total of 286 cards of buildings standing along the town square frontage.

**Table 13.** An inventory card of a building situated along the town square frontage.


Source: elaboration based on [70].

Additionally, all town squares were inventoried, with particular consideration of the small architectural elements, green areas, intensity and aesthetics of advertisements, etc. Nine such cards were prepared (Table 14).

As the next step, the authors evaluated the attractiveness of the squares according to the adopted criteria and formula and, based on this, drew conclusions.

Apart from the point bonitation method and field study, the researchers used the graphic method, which enabled them to present the shapes and sizes of the town squares as well as their functional diversification.


### **Table 14.** An inventory card of the town square.


Source: authors' own elaboration.

### **4. Results and Discussion**

The overall score for all elements of the spatial order ranged from 26 to 46 points (Table 15), which means that the studied public spaces received 33–58% of the maximum number of points possible.


**Table 15.** Points for elements of the spatial order and the town square attractiveness index.

Source: authors' own elaboration.

### *4.1. The Architectural–Urban Planning Order*

The score for all elements of the architectural–urban planning order ranged from 7 to 12 points. The maximum number of points was 18 (Table 15), which means low and medium levels of this order were found for the analysed towns. The highest number of points was allocated to the town square in Stopnica (Figure 2), a destination that regained its municipal rights only six years ago. The town square there has a regular shape, close to a square, and its area (together with streets and pavements) covers over 7000 m2, which places it among medium-sized town squares. The square in Stopnica was allocated 12 out of 18 points (67% of the maximum score). The smallest number of points was allocated to the town square in Nowa Słupia, which has an irregular shape and a small area, slightly over 6000 m2. It regained it municipal rights in 2019. Generally speaking, the town square in this town was neglected with respect to the architectural–urban planning order. The only highly rated feature was the type of buildings. They were mostly uniform buildings, with few temporary structures. The remaining features were rated poorly, particularly the compactness of the buildings, the condition and colour of the elevations, and the occurrence of small architectural elements. The researchers allocated seven points to this square (39% of the maximum square).

**Figure 2.** Selected elements of the spatial order of town squares in new small towns. Source: authors' own elaboration. 1—Daleszyce, 2—Koprzywnica, 3—Łagów, 4—Nowa Słupia, 5—Nowy Korczyn, 6—Opatowiec, 7—Radoszyce, 8—Stopnica, 9—Wi´slica.

Generally speaking, town squares in the studied towns are regular in shape; the majority of them are small and medium-sized. Only two towns—Daleszyce and Łagów— have rectangular squares of impressive sizes. Both towns were granted subsidies for revitalisation, transforming these spaces according to current trends. The areas of the squares exceed 20,000 m2.

The weaknesses of all of the town squares were the low compactness of the buildings and large number of undeveloped plots. These weaknesses are convergen<sup>t</sup> with the results of studies conducted by other authors, stressing the insufficient use of space near central squares in small towns [26]. The compactness of the buildings is additionally reduced by drive-in gates, which often disrupt the whole space. Another drawback is the poor state and faded or motley colours of building facades. In nearly all cases, many buildings were neglected and brightly painted, not matching the surroundings. Regrettably, this phenomenon is often stressed in the literature and can be found in the public spaces of towns of different sizes [16]. The amount of small architectural elements was also rated poorly (Figure 2). Only in individual cases could we find figures or statues in the square (in Stopnica, 2; in Daleszyce, 2; and in Wi´slica, Nowy Korczyn, Łagów, and Opatowiec, 1). Most pieces of small architecture were for sanitation (litter bins), but they were scarce in the public spaces studied, which has been confirmed by the observations made by other researchers regarding the development of public space in small Polish towns [8,37,39,93,94]. The number of small architectural elements found in town squares is connected to the historical past. They are represented by statues of historical figures and figures of saints, showing people's attitude regarding the Catholic Church and Christian faith. In the towns in question, even historical events are presented in conjunction with characters related to Catholic Church. Czepczy ´nski [8] called this a sacralisation of public spaces and claimed that it is the most pronounced and dynamic socio-spatial process observed in many small towns. They also indicated that many elements of this type are historical and related to the activity of previous generations. Small architectural elements also point to the modern use of financial resources, which are spent to cover the cost of revitalisation (e.g., introducing elements used to maintain cleanliness).

The low evaluation of the architectural–urban planning order is closely connected to the age of the buildings. Many were built before World War II, and the majority were erected in the socialist period (1945–1989), with only a few appearing at the turn of the 21st century. During central planning, the appearances of buildings were not a priority and there were shortages of basic construction materials or finishing elements (external fittings, window and door woodwork, glazing, balustrades, cladding, plasters, and paint coatings) [95]. It is mainly such houses that surround the main public spaces in these towns. The loss of their municipal rights deepened the economic crisis, and in no way did it help to recreate the housing tissue. The age of buildings is also related to the number of storeys. Those built before World War II usually have one storey, e.g., temporary and provisional constructions (pavilions and kiosks). The buildings erected during the centrally planned economy period usually have two storeys, and new buildings have two storeys and a usable attic. Similar features were observed in small towns located in other regions of Poland [17]. The state of the buildings surrounding the squares also worsened due to migration processes. Young people are migrating to larger centres, and those who stay are older and cannot afford to redecorate their houses. It is generally an unfavourable situation because, as Jacobs [3] (p. 29) said, "If a city's streets look interesting, the city looks interesting; if they look dull, the city looks dull."

### *4.2. Functional Order*

The score for the functional order ranged from three to nine points (Table 15). The maximum number of points to be calculated was 12, which means that the studied public spaces received 25–75% of the maximum number of points. Thus, it can be stated that the functional order in the studied towns was at the low and medium level (Table 15, Figure 2). The highest number of points (9) was allocated to the town square in Nowa Słupia, a

destination situated on the edge of Swi ˛ etokrzyski National Park, which concentrates most tourist traffic to the Holy Rood Monastery, an important place in the province and in Poland from historical and religious points of view. From the 13th to the early 19th century, the town was the property of the Holy Rood Benedictine Abbey. For centuries, it developed infrastructure providing services to tourists, which caused a relatively high functional diversification and enabled a large number of establishments to adapt to service functions. The smallest number of points was allocated to Opatowiec (three points)—the least populated town in the country. The buildings standing along the town square frontage did not develop any other function except for the residential one.

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The weakness of the functional order of the squares in the studied towns was the generally small functional diversification. The predominant function was trade (5–50% of the overall number of storeys). The shops were usually small groceries or markets, where one can buy all kinds of goods, from toiletries and household chemicals to metal objects and household equipment. It was more typical of rural areas than towns, even small ones. Higher-order services (financial, healthcare, cultural–educational, legal, and advertising) were rare, and they did not occupy more than 11% of the total number of storeys (in most towns, it was 2–5%). A similar phenomenon has been identified by other researchers in various regions of Poland. This is typical of small Polish towns [26]. What is also worrying is the high percentage of vacancies in the buildings surrounding the town square. For instance, in Nowy Korczyn, every fourth storey showed no signs of being used, and in Wi´slica, nearly every fifth one. Apart from the fact that they do not have a utility value, vacancies also have neglected elevations and woodwork and, generally, make a bad impression.

The lack of functional diversification makes public spaces boring and not attractive to the inhabitants. Holland et al. [96] found that people are attracted and usually stay longer in public spaces that offer excitement, stimulation, and some comfort. A particularly negative factor affecting the functioning of the town squares in the studied towns is the lack of gastronomic establishments. As indicated by Whyte [97], nothing attracts people to a public space as effectively as the possibility to eat and drink, and a person having a meal in a public space attracts even more people. The town square as a central place should be a concentration of a variety of services. The towns in question have not developed a rich functional structure, remaining rural units. The shrinking population does not encourage the town to expand their service offer.

### *4.3. Social Order*

The score for the social order in the towns analysed ranged from 7 to 18 points. The maximum number of points was 28 (Table 15), which means that the studied public spaces received 25–64% of the maximum number of points. Thus, the social order in the towns studied was also at the low and medium levels. The highest number of points was allocated to the town square in Nowy Korczyn (Figure 2). The town regained its municipal rights in 2019. The whole square has a small area, but many elements, as well as their accessibility and safety for various social groups, have been taken care of. However, it must be stressed that, although many elements function within the space of the square, their availability is definitely insufficient. If we take amenities for people with disabilities, for example, there are parking spaces in the square but only two. According to the regulations [98], there should be a minimum of three such spaces. (The number of parking spaces for people with disabilities in Poland is specified by the Public Roads Act of 21 March 1985 [98]. This number depends on the total number of parking spaces in a given carpark. When a lot has six to 15 parking spaces, one should be reserved for people with disabilities. However, in carparks with 16–40 spaces, a minimum of two spaces must be designated for people with disabilities. In carparks where the total number of parking spaces is 41–100, a minimum of three parking spaces should be dedicated to this group of people. If there are more than 100 parking spaces, 4% of them must be reserved for people with disabilities. There are 70 parking spaces at the square in Nowy Korczyn.) The lowest

number of points was allocated to the squares in Nowa Słupia (7) and Opatowiec (8). None of them follow the basic rules of social order, and they do not encourage developing interpersonal relationships. In Nowa Słupia, almost the whole space of the square is used as a parking lot. Similar managemen<sup>t</sup> approaches have been defined as inappropriate and were also observed in other regions of Poland [17,33,37,39]. Research shows that areas dedicated to car traffic decrease the vitality of public spaces [99]. There are no walking alleys, trees, shrubs, or small architectural elements. A similar situation was observed in Opatowiec. There is inadequate lighting on the square and an insufficient number of pedestrian crossings. There are also no public toilets, ATMs, restaurant gardens, or other elements attracting the inhabitants of the town.

Generally, another weakness of all of the town squares under study was a lack of facilities and elements that would not only attract the inhabitants but also make them stay longer. People tend to stay within public space if they find comfortable seats there, with some kind of protection against bad weather [2]. The small number or complete lack of gastronomic establishments, lack of public toilets or limited access to them, and lack of outdoor restaurants do not enhance the vitality of public spaces. During revitalisation, trees and shrubs were nearly completely removed from the two largest town squares in Łagów and Daleszyce. Despite later attempts, it was impossible to restore the former greenery. As a result, the number of benches in shaded places decreased, which is particularly important, as the majority of the towns' inhabitants are senior citizens.

### *4.4. Aesthetic Order*

The score for the aesthetic order in the towns analysed ranged from three to eight points. The maximum number of points was 10 (Table 15), which means that the studied public spaces received 30–80% of the maximum number of points. The highest number of points was allocated to Daleszyce, which is a destination situated closest to the main city of the province, Kielce, and was the first to regain its municipal rights among the towns in the study (2007). This is important because the town could take advantage of Polish and European funds for revitalisation. From an aesthetic point of view, the town looks very impressive, it is very clean, and the problem of unattractive advertisements is under control.

The lowest rated for aesthetics were the town squares in Koprzywnica and Nowa Słupia. These squares are characterised by an excessive number of advertisements and signboards. They are poorly made, often heavily weathered, and cause information chaos. In Koprzywnica, there are over 10 adverts and signboards per 100 m of square frontage length. The cobbled town square in Nowa Słupia, which has no flowers or greenery, is filled with cars and has practically no strolling or relaxing people in view, and does not have a high degree of spatial order according to this study. Previous research has shown that spaces designed for traffic decrease the vitality of public spaces [6,100]. In addition, as stressed by Jacobs [3] and by Jalaladini and Oktay [2], the decreasing significance of pedestrian traffic in urban public spaces makes them dehumanised and lowers the quality of life for the inhabitants.

### *4.5. Green Order*

The score for the green order in the towns analysed ranged from zero to seven points. The maximum number of points was 11 (Table 15), which means that the studied public spaces received 0–64% of the maximum number of points. The largest number of points was allocated to the town square in Łagów (Figure 2). It is one of the largest squares in the whole province, revitalised in 2013 for nearly half a million PLN (about EUR 120,000). Similar to the majority of revitalised town squares in Poland, in the second decade of the 21st century, nearly all trees and shrubs were cut down and the whole surface of the two square was paved. However, for several years, there have been attempts to restore green surfaces, and in the case of Łagów, it has been partly successful. Unfortunately, the destruction of greenery in public spaces in small Polish cities has virtually become a regular

feature of these spaces. Many authors emphasise this negative aspect of shaping central squares in small towns [37,39]. The town square in Nowa Słupia, which is practically devoid of greenery, was allocated zero points for green order (Figure 2).

In Nowy Korczyn, Nowa Słupia, and Pokrzywnica, a lack of greenery was noted outside residents' homes (90%, 87%, and 77%, respectively). Such numbers must be regarded as highly influential on the overall green order of the towns and, therefore, as a weakness in terms of the overall spatial order.

### *4.6. Attractiveness of the Town Squares*

Taking the attractiveness index values into consideration, the town squares in the towns analysed can be divided into two groups: squares of medium and low attractiveness. The first group includes the squares in Daleszyce, Łagów, Nowy Korczyn, Radoszyce, Stopnica, and Wi´slica, where the attractiveness index ranged from 0.50 to 0.58. This means that those squares scored about half of the maximum score. This group contains two categories of squares. The first one includes revitalised squares, with well-designed social and aesthetic orders but imperfect green order (Daleszyce (Figure 3), Łagów (Figure 3), Stopnica (Figure 3), and Wi´slica (Figure 3). Revitalisation included a good design of the town square and small architectural elements, such as some amenities promoting social contacts (tables, gaming equipment, etc.). The other category encompasses squares that have not been revitalised yet, where natural greenery has not been damaged. In these towns, town squares are characterised by city parks. Due to the number of inhabitants and historical conditions, they have high-quality social and architectural–urban planning orders, which eventually raised the value of the attractiveness index by over 0.5. This category includes the town squares in Radoszyce and Nowy Korczyn.

The other group, consisting of unattractive squares (low attractiveness index, less than 0.4), includes the town squares in Opatowiec, Koprzywnica, and Nowa Słupia. These spaces do not have attributes of urban public spaces. None of the elements of social order have been fully developed.

The characteristic features of these squares include small functional diversity, lack or small number of amenities enhancing social contacts (tables, game boards, walking alleys, and benches), insufficient greenery, poor aesthetics of the frontage buildings, and small area of the central public space.

Public spaces in small towns, which used to be villages just a few years ago, do not seem to be attractive. This seems to be the main cause of the low quality of all attempts at renovation of these spaces. The projects often do not consider the history of the town, its identity, or the needs of its inhabitants. They duplicate previously prepared projects for other towns of similar sizes (and similar numbers of inhabitants) [101]. A lack of stable traditions and models of creating central spaces in small towns lowers their attractiveness. The physical forms of these towns loosely refer to the wishes and needs of the local communities [2]. Watson et al. [102] indicated that town squares shaped in this way do not have a clear, specific character and are only a mixture of styles and themes borrowed from different parts of Poland and the world. Perhaps this uniform pattern of urban spaces results from the fact that such a concept turned out to be a success in the struggle for EU funds, and other local governmen<sup>t</sup> units, wanting to increase their chances in this race, follow these "good models" [39].

It should also be noted that the results obtained depend, to a large extent, on the method and measures adopted. The bonitation method used in the study and the concept of spatial order allowed us, on the one hand, to assess the attractiveness of the squares of small towns in Poland from a broad perspective, using a rich and varied set of measures. This approach should be assessed positively. On the other hand, the study used a number of qualitative measures that require subjective assessment by researchers (e.g., measures describing the aesthetic order of public space). This means that the results may vary depending on the personality traits of the researchers (e.g., aesthetic feelings, emotional state, and weather conditions).

**Figure 3.** Town squares. Source: authors' own work. 1—Daleszyce, 2—Koprzywnica, 3—Łagów, 4—Nowa Słupia, 5—Nowy Korczyn, 6—Opatowiec, 7—Radoszyce, 8—Stopnica, 9—Wi´slica.
