47 Examples of Community Space

John Spacey, updated on July 12, 2023

A community space is a public facility or outdoor space that can be used by members of a community. This includes spaces that are open to all community members such as a park and spaces that are normally reserved for specific members of the community such as a school or seniors center. Community spaces are often multipurpose and used for various activities and events. This may involve a booking system or a first-come-first-serve model. The following are common types of community space.

Amphitheaters	Barbecue areas
Basketball courts	Beaches
Blue spaces	Canals
Co-working spaces	Community centers
Community gardens	Community kitchens
Conference centers	Conference rooms
Creative spaces such as reuse cafes	Dog parks
Event and banquet halls	Farmers markets
Flea markets	Hiking trails
Ice rinks	Lecture halls
Libraries	Linear parks
Living Streets	Meeting spaces
Museums	Music venues
Outdoor seating areas	Parks
Performing arts facilities	Picnic areas
Play Streets	Playgrounds
Plazas	Public colleges and universities
Public squares	Recreation centers
Schools	Senior centers
Skate parks	Sports fields
Sports stadiums	Swimming pools
Tennis courts	Town halls
Urban forests	Volleyball courts
Youth centers

Some nations, cities or neighborhoods have unique types of community space such as the void decks of Singapore or the woonerf of the Netherlands.

Most community space is government owned but there are circumstances where private facilities are community space. For example, building developments may be required to create community space that is open to the public according to local rules in some areas.

Commercial entities such as cafes may also act as de facto community spaces despite being privately owned.

In many cases, non-commercial and non-government entities own community spaces such as a museum owned by a foundation. This can only be viewed as a community space where access to the facility is open and inexpensive.

Community space can be viewed as a right and freedom. For example, freedom of movement and freedom of assembly require community spaces. Children also have a right to play that requires play spaces.

Next: Public Space

More about public space: