Common Ground
This pattern is shaped by
Problem
When all land in a neighborhood is privately owned and individually fenced, there is nowhere for the community to gather, garden, play, or maintain shared infrastructure. Common ground is the physical foundation of collective life.
Evidence and Discussion
Community gardens, pocket parks, shared courtyards, and common greens appear in every culture and every era — they are as fundamental as the dwelling itself. The modern erosion of common ground (through privatization, liability concerns, and the assumption that parks are the government's job) has removed the physical basis for neighborly life.
Therefore
in every neighborhood, reserve at least 10% of the land area as common ground — land owned collectively (by a trust, cooperative, or municipality) and maintained by the community. This includes community gardens, shared courtyards, playgrounds, gathering greens, and the land under shared infrastructure like solar arrays and tool libraries. Common ground should be distributed, not concentrated — every resident should be within a two-minute walk of at least one common space.