Public property is property that is dedicated to public use. The term may be used either to describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of its ownership (owned collectively by the population of a state). State ownership, also called public ownership, government ownership or state property, are property interests that are vested in the state, rather than an individual or communities.

American economist Armen A. Alchian explored what distinguishes public property from private property, concluding that a unique difference lies in the limitations put on its alienability. That is, a crucial feature of public property lies in the inability of their owners to sell or grant them to others. According to Alchian, private property is that which can be transferred at the discretion of its owners, whilst public property is that which cannot.

Consequently, because of the absence of exchange in much of what is public property and thereby the absence of market prices reflecting its value, it is difficult for a government to appraise its holdings. This can lead to problems with economic calculation.

Both rights with respect to public and private property are in part determined by governments. The owner of a private property can control it at own discretion, whilst the state reserves the right to charge taxes and nationalize it, or temporarily use it. The difference between public and private property lies in their alienability.

Most public property is government-provided and not charged for separately to users, but open to the public. However, it is incorrect to say that all public property can be used freely by the public. Many public goods are provided only to subsets of the population, such as care for the elderly and playgrounds for children. That is, the 'public' may vary and does not in fact determine its public or private nature.

Karl Marx described private property as a fundamental social relation of bourgeois society, where it is used for appropriation of labor by capitalists. Marx considered that public property will replace the private property, as a natural historical change of a property relationship.

All property relations in the past have continually been subject to historical change consequent upon the change in historical conditions.

The French Revolution, for example, abolished feudal property in favour of bourgeois property.