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It is insidious, as the land is being sold off by public bodies (local councils etc) without any announcement, and then there is no signage to let people know that the land is no longer public. The first that most people know is when they've broken some rule (not law) and are kicked off the land by private security guards.

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There are very few examples of this in London.

The places mentioned in the article (Granary Square, More London, Canary Wharf, etc.) were never public spaces.

They were predominately disused or abandoned industrial areas that have been developed to become vibrant and attractive places to live and work, creating entirely new 'public' spaces in the process.

> and is being sold off by public bodies [...] without any announcement

You don't have public bid rules for government sales / purchases?

Most of the time, there is no sale; it's just a planning application. Those are usually public, but there's a huge difference between losing a few square feet of footpath to a privately-owned bench/telco cabinet, and losing a previously accessible green/brownfield site.

I believe it can be slightly (actually a lot) more complicated than that -- especially in the UK.

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