OpenStreetMap

Many new mappers will mistake similar classifications when mapping new features. For example, when I first started mapping, I would mark areas as “forest”, when I meant “wood”. I also marked “meadow” instead of “grass” in many places. Others confuse “footpath” and “path”, “residential area” and “apartments”, and “nature preserve” and “park”. If OpenStreetMap could add a pop-up that would say “did you mean” followed by a similar tag to the one that the mapper just selected and a comparison of the two tags, then new mappers could more accurately map areas.

Discussion

Comment from Alan Trick on 24 August 2017 at 04:16

Some of these are deeply confused parts of OSM itself. The tag landuse=forest has completely failed at reaching any standardized meaning, and it’s as far as I know, its presence is mostly a consequence of a few imports and confusion by new editors.

Footpath and path are confusing, and that has history behind it as well, since footpath is an older tag, but path does a better job of describing a wider ranger of possibilities (path + foot=designated is the same as a footpath).

Nature preserves and parks are also a little confusing, and I think until recently the schema was in flux, not sure if it still is.

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