Public Spaces in Private Spaces – What’s the Balance?

What if … the only available public spaces to freely assemble are private?

The forthcoming Market Plaza in Downtown Charlottesville is going to be a massive project,

Market Plaza will feature 68 residential units, 55,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 square feet of retail space.

The city market will operate in an open-air plaza for as many as two days a week in the south-west quadrant. The plaza will be rented by the city for those days and will be managed by the developer for the rest.

with a public-ish park. Charlottesville Tomorrow notes (bolding mine)

“It’s really just an urban park that’s focused around the fountain and we hope that kids of all ages will be splashing away,” Powe said.

In response to a question of whether the plaza would attract homeless people, Powe said the city police will be allowed to patrol the area even though it is a private space. He also said there would be security cameras everywhere.

Google reveals some insight when I searched for public spaces private Charlottesville debate.