The squares attract people interested in specific themes, who can meet, find information and exchange ideas. E.g., the 'Europe Square' houses the Dutch Office of the European Commission, and other organizations related to the European Union. They provide information to the public, and political debate around European issues is organized. The squares are the location for the commercial information suppliers, but also for non for profit institutions. They all pay for their 'shop' in the Digital City.
Houses also provide information and are places for interaction.
The main difference between the shops and houses is, that the latter are free. On the other hand, one is not allowed to provide commercial information in one's house. Because the number of inhabitants increases faster than the number of squares, there is a shortage of space for houses. All kind of measures have been tried out to solve the problem, like building 'flats'. By now, it is also allowed to build WWW pages in the digital city that are not properly located in the 'city structure'.