OpenStreetMap
I’ve recently completed 365 days mapping and went past my 400,000th map change and thought I would reflect a little on it.
I never actually started out to do a year of mapping. I had signed up to OSM way back in 2016 but never made an edit. I don’t recall why, but the project probably seemed impenetrable to me back then. Fast forward to the middle of Covid I started to think about how I could volunteer my time and so I started editing on OSM.
It was only when I noticed I had gone over half a year that I thought a year of mapping was achievable and set it as a goal to myself. Some days were just one edit, some large edits.
Being honest, I would not recommend people to do a year of mapping as it became somewhat forced towards the end. Especially when I had missed a couple of days when I first started mapping so had to keep going for a few extra months to fill them in! I also went through phases where it looked to myself like substantial progress had been made and then periods where there I realised how much was still to be done in my area.
My initial OSM journey started with doing general StreetComplete and OSM editing/tinkering and then I settled on a main objective to map as much residential buildings in the large blank areas Aberdeen, Scotland. Why? To be honest, I don’t really know. Possibly because if they had not been done in over 11 years then they would never get done as people may not see them as a priority or fun to do. I also felt getting the main foundations of an addressable city would have many use cases. Along with the building outlines, I wanted to put down as much addressing as possible leaving just a street side survey to add the house number which can easily be done by anyone using StreetComplete or OSM.
Maybe people shy away from residential mapping as they believe automated building imports do the heavy lifting for them. This may well be the case for Aberdeen and make my work redundant but as it stands these areas are uploaded and the map can make use of them instead of waiting for a future import.
Secondary objectives I mapped as I went when I could see them from the imagery were:
- solar roof installs
- power substations
- sidewalks
- grit bins
There is still quite a bit to do and I’m sure I’ve made mistakes along the way but I believe I’ve left the map in a better place than when I started. I’ll probably split my time improving areas I initially started on, correcting my outstanding mistakes, and continuing to map blank residential spaces.
I would like to finish by saying thank you to the following people. They either helped me directly, indirectly or just helped keep me motivated during some slogs. Apologies if I miss anyone. In alphabetical username order:
- b-unicycling
- confusedbuffalo
- gregrs
- LivingWithDragons
- Mastrick_Mapper
- Robert Whittaker
- Russss
- ScottishJoe
- TheEditor101
Discussion
Comment from b-unicycling on 30 April 2022 at 11:29
And hello back! I only saw this now after your message. Covid lockdown definitely helped me to get seriously into mapping.
Keep it going, even if not in such an intensity as before!
Comment from JJIglesias on 2 May 2022 at 00:38
Well, thanks for your insights in your diary, like you I started mapping in 2016, but in the last 4 years I have been mapping for 365/366 days each year, and I do not see other obstacle than contributing when you are away from your computer (OSMAND has been my on the go tool).
As you, I do not encourage people to map everyday of a year, but to make meaningfull edits. There are millions of changes needed either in small or big areas. Jumping to another country, could be a good option, for places like Europe or USA that are well mapped, then start mapping were there are to many black spots.
After crossing 7.5 millions changes to the map recently, my goal is to have more spare time to keep mapping as much as I could.
Be safe and Keep Mapping
Comment from Mastrick_Mapper on 3 May 2022 at 18:51
Well done! I admire your effort and I always see your improvements when I’m contributing. Thank you for recommending me some nice tools and techniques to increase my productivity.
Have fun mapping and take care.
Comment from Weiers Coetser on 7 October 2023 at 06:51
I’m just getting into this rabbit-hole of OSM mapping, and have enjoyed the learning curve. I have seen many of your edits, and when I started tinkering with Streetcomplete I found even more!
I’m enjoying the way in which it helps me “connect” with the place where I live on a more granular level, and my eyes are opening up to how much data there is in the world around us!
I am still learning. It is quite an adventure to try to map an area where the new development does not correspond with the satellite picture that is superimposed. Stil trying to find my way with OsmAnd (can’t seem to get it to record gpx traces yet, but managed to get traces from Strava!). Making videos and photos of the area, and then trying to make it all come together on the map :-D.