How New York’s Union Square helped shape free speech in the US

Public space is an essential component of democratic cities. Modelled on the agora of ancient Greece, it is a marketplace for the exchange of goods and ideas, a place where public affairs are debated and disputes resolved.
But historically, access was restricted. Famously, the classical agora was open only to the “free-born” and closed to women and slaves. Throughout history, just as access to public space is contentious, so are the rights of citizenship. More...