OpenStreetMap: User-Generated Street Maps

TLDR: The OpenStreetMap project is a knowledge collective that provides user-generated street maps that follow the peer production model that created Wikipedia; its aim is to create a set of map data that's free to use, editable, and licensed under new copyright schemes.

Abstract: The OpenStreetMap project is a knowledge collective that provides user-generated street maps. OSM follows the peer production model that created Wikipedia; its aim is to create a set of map data that's free to use, editable, and licensed under new copyright schemes. A considerable number of contributors edit the world map collaboratively using the OSM technical infrastructure, and a core group, estimated at approximately 40 volunteers, dedicate their time to creating and improving OSM's infrastructure, including maintaining the server, writing the core software that handles the transactions with the server, and creating cartographical outputs. There's also a growing community of software developers who develop software tools to make OSM data available for further use across different application domains, software platforms, and hardware devices. The OSM project's hub is the main OSM Web site.

Figures

Figure 1. Graph of user and contributions growth to OSM on a monthly basis. The graph shows the accelerating growth in number of users and the rapid increase in data entry measured in track points (source: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org).

Figure 2. Main OpenStreetMap Web site Slippy Map with detailed coverage of central London. Notice the ability

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions mentioned in the paper "User-generated street maps" ?

On 1 May 2000, US President Bill Clinton announced the removal of selective availability of the GPS signal1 and, by so doing, provided much improved accuracy for simple, low-cost GPS receivers. Although a range of projects based on user-generated mapping has emerged, OpenStreetMap ( OSM ) is probably the most extensive and effective project currently under development. In this article, the authors review the project and provide an overview for the techniques and methodologies used within it. 

Q2. What is the main benefit of T@H?

The main benefit of T@H is that it distributes the computational load between multitudes of clients, enabling the system to quickly render large numbers of up-todate map tiles. 

Q3. What are some examples of plug-ins used by OSM?

Examples of user-contributed plug-ins include custom Web mapping service (WMS) background imagery and Yahoo aerial imagery, live recording of external GPS data, and a data and tagging scheme validation tool, to name just a few. 

Q4. What is the main server doing for rendering?

The main server distributes rendering jobs between clients, which collect the relevant data from the OSM API and render a set of map tiles that are then uploaded back to the server for distribution. 

Q5. What is the way to use the OSM Web site?

For most casual contributors, the OSM Web site offers a light-weight online Flash-based editor, Potlatch, which lets users add, update, or delete geographical features through a relatively easy-to-use interface. 

Q6. What is the extensive and effective project currently under development?

Although a range of projects based on user-generated mapping has emerged, OpenStreetMap (OSM) is probably the most extensive and effective project currently under development. 

Q7. What is the main argument from OSM?

Although the common argument from OSM advocates is that because of the data’s free nature, people who spot a mistake are likely to be more motivated to rectify it, in practice, OSM is exhibiting the same participation inequality as many other user-generated content projects.11 

Q8. How long does it take to update a map?

such requests for updated map tiles are fulfilled in a matter of hours, in contrast to up to seven days for a Mapnik tile set update. 

Q9. What is the role of mapping parties in the OSM project?

Mapping parties play an essential part in creating and fostering local OSM user groups and creating a vibrant social community around the project (see Figure 3). 

Q10. What are the main considerations that should be included in the OSM project?

Considerations that should be included are how well an area is covered by data, the data’s accuracy in terms of positional accuracy and attributes, the consistency in terms of classification or data-capture procedures, and quality control. 

Q11. What is the default set of tiles on the main OSM Web site?

The default set of tiles on the main OSM Web site (see Figure 2) is rendered using Mapnik, an open source library for generating high-quality map images. 

Q12. What is the core of the OSM initiative?

This tagging schema, which is increasingly being developed into a complex taxonomy of real-world feature classes and objects, is a core part of the OSM initiative and is community-driven. 

Q13. What are the main issues that still need to be taken into account?

10Along with these achievements, some open issues still must be taken into account, such as the fitness for purpose of OSM data, the influence of geography and participation on the project, the ability to continue to update the information, and licensing. 

Q14. What is the main purpose of the OSM API?

As a result, editing and presentation tools can be developed independently from the database, with the lightweight communication protocol acting as a glue between the elements of OSM’s GeoStack. 

Q15. What is the way to get the results of data changes?

T@H is especially useful for OSM mapping contributors that want to quickly see the results of data changes, as they can request specific ar-eas to be added to the T@H rendering queue.