Yup, it's also commonly referred to when people trash up the "public," as with litter, graffiti, vandalism, and so forth. The basic idea is that "when everyone owns it, it's treated as if no one owns it," and the reason comes down to property rights. If people actually did "own" public property, in a meaningful way, it would be treated better. The worn out example is how a place like Disneyland/world is kept immaculate by its property owner, even though it's a "public place" by the government's loose definition (I.E., open to the public, they have to treat people according to the Civil Rights Act, ad nauseam.)