These are terms from the world of Town Planning.
VILLAGE OR TOWN GREEN, a common open area which is a part of a settlement. Traditionally, such an area was often common grass land at the centre of a small agricultural settlement, used for grazing and sometimes for community events. Some may also have a pond, originally for watering stock. The green is traditionally at a central location and provides an open-air meeting place for the people of a village, for example at times of celebration, or for public ceremonies.
COMMON LAND (a COMMON) is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel. By extension, the term “commons” has come to be applied to other resources which a community has rights or access to. The older texts use the word “common” to denote any such right, but more modern usage is to refer to particular rights of common, and to reserve the name “common” for the land over which the rights are exercised.
Tags: city square, common land, municipal park, open space, public square, town green, town square, urban park, Village green