It was such a shock to move to England for me and see parks that closed at night (actually closed, with gates, and padlocks, as opposed to mostly symbolic "closing" of main gates you can just walk around which is the most I'm used to), and fences all over the place. How anyone can feel free in places where your ability to move about are so limited is beyond me...

I still get this deep instinctual feeling that it's wrong when I e.g. walk along the Thames path and encounter gates that gets locked at certain times, or when I come across park squares with fences all around.

I don't think people who have only ever lived in places where they encounter this regularly even understands how liberating it feels not to be locked in like that...