The commons as a historical phenomenon and a sociocultural category has received much attention from diverse groups of scholars over the past two decades. Not just historians and sociologists have shown keen interest in the concept, but also political thinkers and urbanists have made their contribution to reconceptualizing the commons in late modernity. Very few  have, however, researched deeper into the applicability and the relevance of the commons to urban theory, which has caused it to be under-theorised and used uncritically. The purpose of the present paper is to develop a systematic account of the traditional meanings of the commons and unite them into a coherent concept of urban commons using the squares as paradigms. Such an account, which revisits the old English commons, makes it possible, the paper argues, to cover multiple aspects of this complex phenomenon and show its pertinence for urban theory.