The article deals with the historical background of the formation of public spaces (PS). It defines PS, presents an analysis of the formation of public spaces on the example of Santo Domingo square in Madrid.

Main results: a limited pool of staff with the necessary managerial expertise, clash of interests of different groups can be attributed to the reasons for an ineffective use of territories. Key players in addressing public spaces are typically architects-urban planners, local administration and active citizens.  Professionalism of each of them, as well as an external expert opinion, can often   appear decisive.

Conclusions and proposals: these examples clearly illustrate the extent to which the role of public spaces depends on the policy of the local authority, its priorities, amount of allocated resources and activity of local citizens. The importance of public spaces is determined by their need for the local community, though separated in the conditions of large agglomerations, since public spaces are a part of the city’s social life, the centre of attraction. Unfortunately, it must be said, that the Administration, without considering the public spaces as a source of replenishment of the budget, has hardly ever paid due attention to their qualitative organization and effective management.  It appears that to develop public spaces and to avoid their desolation and destruction, the Administration should build relations of a voluntary cooperation and a constructive dialogue with the authorities of the municipality, architects, urban planners, local residents,  make decisions with bearing in mind social, technical, environmental, architectural, economic and many other factors.