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    <p>Thank you Steven, finally something in the good direction!</p>
    <p>Fixing the issue is clearly the thing to do and much better than
      adding a new mess on top of the existing one, which would
      necessarily make any real fix impossible.</p>
    <p>But... (yes) If one has the energy to start this process, here
      are a few hints he should keep in mind at any time:<br>
    </p>
    <p>1. It's important to really understand the problem before trying
      to fix it. And here, it looks like few people understand
      where+what it is. See tag vs attribute here below.<br>
    </p>
    <p>2. Rules are important for community projects, especially wide
      ones. OSM is a huge and specific one. But beyond respecting rules,
      there is something at least as much important: the respect of
      hierarchy/structure. One should understand the distinction between
      the national OSM branch and the global/top level.<br>
      If every national branch fixes a global issue at its level, first,
      things are quickly going to be incompatible between countries,
      second, it makes it much more complicated, if not impossible, to
      correct later on at the top/global level.<br>
      Fixing things globally is necessary to make the project survive on
      the long term, for the same reasons.<br>
    </p>
    <p>3. Here after, I will use the term *walker_way* in place of
      "footway", because the term itself is misleading and readers stick
      with the human meaning, thus they miss the technical aspect which
      has first priority. If you see clear in the tag vs attribute,
      key/value, DB id, etc. You'll see these are just aliases.<br>
      Those familiar with XML/HTML know that tags and attributes are not
      the same, even if sometime a problem may be addressed locally with
      either. Similarly, people used to OOP (Object Oriented
      Programming) know the difference between an object and its
      characteristics (members/attributes). That's the same with
      keys/values in the context of OSM: the different values for
      highway point to different entities/categories. There is NO reason
      to suddenly treat one category via attributes while all others are
      treated appropriately. This is not for rendering, this is for sane
      data into the database.<br>
      Are *walker_way* a useful category? - Yes, even if it looks like
      no at first glance. (Story: I also was puzzled when facing this
      questioning myself, the first time. I changed and changed again
      according to my understanding of the wiki... To, finally, lately,
      understand the meaning and reasons it exists.)<br>
      => This category exists, it is useful, even if it applies only
      to a fraction of cases. The mistake/error/problem is neither that
      this category exist, nor even its misleading name, but the
      documentation around. Specifically the fact the explanations,
      definitions, usages, recommendations are spread in multiples
      locations, sometime with a look of contradictions.<br>
      NOTE: See the wood of Marche-les-Dames. There are tracks that
      switch to paths. That switch is not easy to locate, they move
      between seasons, they are particularly subjective, because of the
      width/aspect/personal interpretation/consideration. However, not
      far from there, there are *walker_ways* that are definitely
      something different than a path or a track, and for which the
      definitions and rules of signaling (roadsigns) do not apply, being
      for bikes, horses or anything else. But they are clearly "<u><b>mainly
          for walkers</b></u>", as stated in the wiki pages.<br>
      I went across the documentation again and again, to end with the
      conclusion that, NO, the current structure is NOT bad, there is no
      error there, it was the right structure and *walker_ways* fully
      apply, are useful. No signaling or width or the likes (attributes)
      can replace that category, without breaking the good structure.<br>
    </p>
    <p>4. The real issue is the documentation, the lack of respect of
      the hierarchy (global vs national) because of an initial slightly
      messy wiki. And now, the documentation drifts further,
      never-ending drafts take more and more precedence on official
      decisions/consensus/rules (good or bad), to the point people do
      not respect the global ruling that is mandatory to maintain the
      project on the long term. We are soon going to face multiple
      national OSM in place of a worldwide map.<br>
      Worse, that approach kills any possibility to maintain the project
      for future generations of mappers/maintainers, because it won't be
      reversed. Spaghetti code... you know.<br>
    </p>
    <p>5. To write it again with other words, the issue is not the term
      "footway". The issue is that it is interpreted with a human
      meaning while it is an ID in a database... Just there to identify
      a specific category. The category is useful, the structure is
      good, please don't change this. Rename, via an alias or so, and
      fix the documentation, at the global level, where stands the root
      cause.<br>
      When the global level will get fixed, and only then, a national
      addition/supplement/improvement could be considered. But you will
      notice that it is no more necessary, the problem would be fixed
      for all countries at once.<br>
      => National rules should just be supplements/additions based on
      the global ruling. Only for country-specific subtleties. Not
      respecting this kills the maintainability/lifetime expectation of
      the project.<br>
    </p>
    <p>6. If the conclusion ends with a change of the keyword "footway",
      in order to stop new mappers to reproduce the same mistakes, then
      an alias has much more chances to be accepted at the global level,
      since its implementation is quite immediate while any other kind
      of change would be very difficult, hence probably rejected. If not
      rejected, the process would anyway take at least 2 years, probably
      more. With an alias, a "solution" could be implemented in just a
      few weeks, in a quite transparent way.<br>
      If such an alias is chosen, then consider a keyword that makes
      clear it is a technical ID, not a human-meaning word from the
      dictionary. Look at the *walker_way* keyword that I invented here
      above... Look at what the underscore brings... That looks like a
      "technical" keyword. Not a dictionary word to be interpreted
      differently in a subjective way, just an ID.<br>
    </p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <p>I hope it will help you to recover things and bring back the
      project in a good, long term direction.</p>
    <p>Regards,<br>
      François<br>
    </p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 23/02/21 15:54, Steven Clays wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CA+XiLsa7uJLu8cgOpucHk=r=i7pdOSfnzcz2JXxHpQEGykoUqQ@mail.gmail.com">
      <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
      <div dir="ltr">
        <div>In the UK one cannot ride a bicycle on a public footpath.
          Very often, it is physically impossible.</div>
        <div>I think we are making each other angry for almost no
          reasons. We wight even consider refining the rules, but I
          agree with François that he follows official rules. The
          disputed paths only concern a very minimum of the whole lot.
          So, François, your time spent is not to be considered as
          wasted!<br>
        </div>
        <div>I used to tag everything with footway, nowadays I only use
          it for exclusive pedestrian use. Slow roads in Belgium can be
          used (even when they are not referenced!) for all types of
          users that can use the width of the path and that are not
          excluded by roadsigns. So, technically, a footway does not
          apply. </div>
        <div>We might even consider to put the slowroads Belgium page to
          a vote or how does this process work?</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
      </div>
      <br>
      <div class="gmail_quote">
        <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">Op ma 22 feb. 2021 om 13:55
          schreef Marc Gemis <<a href="mailto:marc.gemis@gmail.com"
            moz-do-not-send="true">marc.gemis@gmail.com</a>>:<br>
        </div>
        <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
          0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
          <div dir="ltr">Originally, the highway-tags comes from the UK.
            So highway=footpath really means a small road designated for
            pedestrians. They are signposted like that. I'm not really
            sure, but I think that this classification does not mean
            that you cannot ride on it with a bicycle.
            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div>The Germans and others didn't like this, as they do not
              know roads that are footpaths, so they introduced
              highway=path.</div>
            <div>And then things became very messy. And then the
              standard renderer started showing things in the same way.</div>
            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div>I think many people say highway=footway and
              highway=path, foot=designated (bicycle =no) are
              synonymous. Surface, nor location play a role.</div>
            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div>Some people as HW=footway has to be paved, and in a
              town, etc., but this all was added later and is afaik not
              accepted all over the world. Sidewalks are not paved in
              all countries, hence it is not a good idea to require
              that.</div>
            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div>I think there is no general consensus, not in Belgium,
              not in the rest of the world on whether once should use
              path or footway. For me, HW= footway is just a shortcut
              for HW=path + foot=designated,bicycle=no. <br>
            </div>
            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div>regards</div>
            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div>m.</div>
            <div><br>
            </div>
          </div>
          <br>
          <div class="gmail_quote">
            <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 22, 2021 at
              9:34 AM Francois Gerin <<a
                href="mailto:francois.gerin@gmail.com" target="_blank"
                moz-do-not-send="true">francois.gerin@gmail.com</a>>
              wrote:<br>
            </div>
            <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
              0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
              rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
              <div>
                <p>I'm sorry, it's really nice that each one interprets
                  things like he wants, but official rules are there to
                  avoid issues, especially in subtle cases (like current
                  case, as already mentioned) and to avoid individual <u><b>interpretations</b></u>.</p>
                <p>In the meantime, I saw a lot of inconsistencies in
                  the previous exchanges, while you definitely did not
                  take into account the elements I shared, which are
                  based and, AGAIN, have been confronted to the official
                  rules.</p>
                <p>Read again the <a
                    href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:highway#Paths"
                    target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">main
                    definitions</a>, they are CLEAR. Especially the
                  usage of a path and recommandations.</p>
                <p>You don't like the use of footways, that's really
                  sad, but I RESPECT THE RULES. A path is NOT to use in
                  the cases I mentioned, like confirmed by the usage
                  rules that are OFFICIAL, link here above.</p>
                <p><br>
                </p>
                <p>Contradictions (non-exhaustive list):</p>
                <p> - You claim it's cheating on rules for rendering
                  purpose. But you recognize the rendering is not
                  different between a path and a footway.</p>
                <p> - You rely on a never-ending draft, while official
                  rules have precedence and are CLEAR. The draft itself,
                  which has not come to an official rule change for
                  years and introduce some confusions (this one, among
                  others), which you make use of to torn things in the
                  way you would like things to be. But rules are rules
                  and are there for good reasons. When you tell "must be
                  understood as", "interpret like" or the likes, you are
                  directly demonstrating the lack of understanding of
                  why rules exist.<br>
                </p>
                <p> - You claim a path must be used, while the official
                  definition of a path, and the recommended usage
                  CLEARLY tells it's a footway.</p>
                <p> - You make distinction between roads (secondary vs
                  residential, motorway vs secondary) and track vs path,
                  but you cannot make a distinction between a path and a
                  footway, which is clearly a bigger/clearer gap, much
                  clearer than track vs path, which are often difficult
                  to distinct for on site.</p>
                <p> - You "don't see why", so it does not exist. Go to
                  sites on see! Rules are there for good reasons. NOTE:
                  When someone insist on the fact something is subtle
                  and complex, rejecting without even considering the
                  case/reason is error prone.</p>
                <p><br>
                </p>
                <p>Particularly sad to see how OSM is turning against
                  itself, like often with community projects. After
                  having <strike>spent</strike> wasted hundreds of
                  hours to clean the mess it was in many parts, in
                  RESPECT OF THE RULES even when I didn't like them, I
                  come to the conclusion it was just a wast of time.
                  => My contributions to OSM stops here.<br>
                </p>
                <p><br>
                </p>
                <p><br>
                </p>
                <p><br>
                </p>
                <div>On 20/02/21 18:24, ghia wrote:<br>
                </div>
                <blockquote type="cite">
                  <div
                    id="gmail-m_1381381260972860548gmail-m_-8023702644185891826editbody1">
                    <div
                      style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif">
                      <p>I agree!</p>
                      <p><br>
                      </p>
                      <div
                        id="gmail-m_1381381260972860548gmail-m_-8023702644185891826signature"> </div>
                      <p>There seems at first sight no raison to
                        differentiate the paths and to map some as
                        footway, and others as path. I think they should
                        all be mapped as path.</p>
                      <p>If there are some with bicycles allowed, this
                        can be tagged by bicycle yes or no.</p>
                      <p>Regards,</p>
                      <p>Gerard</p>
                      <div
                        id="gmail-m_1381381260972860548gmail-m_-8023702644185891826v1signature"> </div>
                      <p><br>
                      </p>
                      <p
id="gmail-m_1381381260972860548gmail-m_-8023702644185891826v1reply-intro">On
                        2021-02-19 15:06, Matthieu Gaillet wrote:</p>
                      <blockquote style="padding:0px
                        0.4em;border-left:2px solid
                        rgb(16,16,255);margin:0px">
                        <div
                          id="gmail-m_1381381260972860548gmail-m_-8023702644185891826v1replybody1">
                          <div>
                            <div> </div>
                            First, I would certainly not break a good
                            work - even if I disagree - like you did
                            here for example: <a
                              href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/50.4822/4.9482"
                              rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
                              moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/50.4822/4.9482</a>. That's
                            clearly a work done with precision and
                            evidently the tags are used consistently.
                            <div> </div>
                            <div>That said,  I'm currently checking /
                              correcting all the uses of the footway tag
                              outside urbanised areas in the Haute-Meuse
                              region (from Givet to Namur) and in 99,99%
                              of cases, at least from the consistency
                              point of view, it was an error of the
                              mapper, mostly influenced by politics
                              (mapper that wants to emphasis the
                              pedestrian character of a vicinal path) or
                              simply by mistake or ignorance.</div>
                            <div> </div>
                            <div>Actually I don't really care about the
                              use of the footway tag like you did IF and
                              only IF it is consistent all over OSM and
                              that there is a consensus about that use.
                              As far as I can see your way of doing
                              things is an isolated case.</div>
                            <div> </div>
                            <div>I really believe that there is a
                              misunderstanding in the definition of the
                              <u>word</u> itself. Have a look at that
                              query of  google <a
href="https://www.google.com/search?q=footway&client=safari&hl=fr&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjl4pmUgfbuAhVMwKQKHXTgDnQQ_AUoAnoECAgQBA&biw=1280&bih=642"
                                rel="noopener noreferrer"
                                target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Images</a> on
                              the word footway. Even if those footways
                              can be unpaved (clay for example), all of
                              the pictures refers to <u>urbanised places</u>.
                              The word footway refers to "trottoirs" or
                              "voetpad" much more than "sentier" or
                              "pad".</div>
                            <div> </div>
                            <div>Therefore, with all due respect to your
                              work, I believe that you're wrong 😊 It
                              might be considered as mapping for the
                              renderer since default OSM maps don't
                              really make the difference between a
                              "normal" path and a path tagged as narrow
                              or difficult. But even if your approach
                              could make sense, the use of that footway
                              tag is wrong for me. Other renderers are
                              perfectly using the trail_difficulty and
                              trail_visibility tags that are made for
                              such use.</div>
                            <div> </div>
                            <div>On the screen capure of <a
                                href="https://opentopomap.org/#map=16/50.31757/4.82489"
                                rel="noopener noreferrer"
                                target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">opentopomap</a> below,
                              the green arrow shows a "normal" path,
                              where the red one shows a difficult path I
                              mapped recently. It works !</div>
                            <div> </div>
                            <div> </div>
                            <div>Again and finally : for the immense
                              majority of the people, a "footway" is a <u>safe
                                place to walk</u>. Definitively not an
                              alpine path.</div>
                            <div> </div>
                            <div>
                              <div>
                                <div>Matthieu</div>
                              </div>
                              <div><br>
                                <blockquote style="padding:0px
                                  0.4em;border-left:2px solid
                                  rgb(16,16,255);margin:0px">
                                  <div>On 18 Feb 2021, at 13:32,
                                    Francois Gerin <<a
                                      href="mailto:francois.gerin@gmail.com"
                                      rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"
                                      moz-do-not-send="true">francois.gerin@gmail.com</a>>
                                    wrote:</div>
                                  <br>
                                  <div>
                                    <div>
                                      <p>Hi all,</p>
                                      <p>I faced the same question a
                                        while ago. I also realized the
                                        lack of consensus, but also the
                                        good reason for the lack of
                                        consensus: the problem is not
                                        that simple, and there are
                                        different points of view,
                                        sometime very opposite, but also
                                        with a good common base.</p>
                                      <p>First, for years I didn't
                                        changed the map when already
                                        mapped. And I mapped "like the
                                        area around" to be consistent.
                                        But then I became more active
                                        and started to refresh and map
                                        not-yet-covered areas in my
                                        region. Mainly woods and forest,
                                        where less mappers work and
                                        because there was a clear need.<br>
                                        => Quickly I realized that it
                                        was really important to map
                                        "appropriately" in such areas.
                                        And, just for the confirmation,
                                        I encountered several times
                                        people lost, sometime with
                                        babies and bikes in quite
                                        dangerous areas. (That happened
                                        many times in the forest of
                                        Marche-les-Dames, that a full
                                        refreshed recently.)</p>
                                      <p>I ended with this "simple"
                                        approach, which is also the best
                                        "consensus" (for myself) from
                                        the different definitions,
                                        remarks, wiki pages, and
                                        compatible with forest use:</p>
                                      <p>- Everything is mostly a path,
                                        except if it is a track or a
                                        footway.</p>
                                      <p>- A track is where a 4-wheels
                                        vehicle, more specifically a
                                        forestry tractor, can (if traces
                                        on the ground) or is used to
                                        pass. (Distinction made so that
                                        a path does not become a track
                                        just because a quad can pass!)</p>
                                      <p>- A footway is definitely
                                        useful: this is a path too small
                                        for horses and mountain bikes.
                                        (By mountain bikers, I mean
                                        "standard people", aka end
                                        users, not pro mountain bikers
                                        who can pass nearly everywhere a
                                        pedestrian passes!) That
                                        definitely correspond to what
                                        bikers call "singles": a very
                                        small track, where two bikes
                                        cannot pass side by side.</p>
                                      <p><br>
                                      </p>
                                      <p>When I reached that approach, I
                                        read again the different points
                                        of view, remarks, wiki, to
                                        conclude that it was respecting
                                        quite well most of the points
                                        considered important. And, for
                                        me, it also satisfied the need
                                        to make that distinction, which
                                        is important on site. (cf. lost
                                        people, dangerous situations)</p>
                                      <p>Note that even if I'm a biker,
                                        I force myself to consider OSM
                                        for the "end user". With the
                                        distinction I make for a
                                        "standard end user": Consider
                                        the map like a family getting
                                        out for a walk on the Sunday...
                                        Neither for a pro mountain
                                        biker, nor a horse driver. Even
                                        if those categories probably
                                        benefit the most from the
                                        distinction.</p>
                                      <p>My 2 cents.</p>
                                      <p>++<br>
                                        François</p>
                                      <p><br>
                                      </p>
                                      <p><br>
                                      </p>
                                      <div>On 18/02/21 12:49, Pieter
                                        Vander Vennet wrote:</div>
                                      <blockquote style="padding:0px
                                        0.4em;border-left:2px solid
                                        rgb(16,16,255);margin:0px">
                                        <p>Hi everyone,<br>
                                          <br>
                                          Sorry to send a second email
                                          just after my first, but while
                                          doing some more research, I
                                          found that this controversy is
                                          already pretty old; see:</p>
                                        <p><a
                                            href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Richard/diary/20333"
                                            rel="noopener noreferrer"
                                            target="_blank"
                                            moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Richard/diary/20333</a></p>
                                        <p>and</p>
                                        <p><a
                                            href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Path_controversy"
                                            rel="noopener noreferrer"
                                            target="_blank"
                                            moz-do-not-send="true">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Path_controversy</a><br>
                                          <br>
                                          Kind regards,<br>
                                          Pieter</p>
                                        <div>On 18.02.21 12:34, Pieter
                                          Vander Vennet wrote:</div>
                                        <blockquote style="padding:0px
                                          0.4em;border-left:2px solid
                                          rgb(16,16,255);margin:0px">
                                          <p>Hi Matthieu,</p>
                                          <p>Welcome in the swampy
                                            fields of tagging
                                            discussions ;)<br>
                                            <br>
                                            <strong>My view</strong></p>
                                          <p>First of all, we do
                                            professional routeplanning,
                                            for both cyclists and
                                            pedestrians. And yes, I do
                                            (mostly) agree with your
                                            view: a path is a small,
                                            unpaved (desire) path, e.g.
                                            through a forest whereas a
                                            footway is IMHO a typical
                                            paved (or planned) road of
                                            at least 0.5m wide. A rule
                                            of thumb that I use is that
                                            a wheelchair/stroller could
                                            pass easily, or as Gerard
                                            said earlier: "it is like a
                                            sidewalk, but just not next
                                            to a road"</p>
                                          <p>If the "footway" is
                                            sufficiently wide that a car
                                            <em>could</em> drive over it
                                            (but is not allowed to), I'm
                                            inclined to mark them as <em>highway=pedestrian</em>.
                                            This is useful information,
                                            as e.g. emergency services
                                            might take it during an
                                            intervention to get close to
                                            the location of the
                                            accident.</p>
                                          <p>I'm also inclined to mark a
                                            wide, planned way (e.g. in
                                            parks) as footways too.<br>
                                            <br>
                                            I try to base my road
                                            classification mostly on
                                            physical aspects: a path
                                            stays a path, even if it
                                            suddenly has a name board.
                                            This is because of my view
                                            from routeplanning: in
                                            general, I assume that that
                                            a footway is accessible to a
                                            wheelchair user, whereas a
                                            path is not. To explicitly
                                            add the vicinal road status,
                                            there are some tags for that
                                            (vicinal_road:ref IIRC?).
                                            This is the only place where
                                            I disagree with you:</p>
                                          <div>> The only exception I
                                            see is a path in the country
                                            side that is explicitly
                                            marked (road signs) as
                                            pedestrian only, and/or has
                                            turnstiles or other gates to
                                            keep other users away.</div>
                                          <div> </div>
                                          <div>I would still mark those
                                            as a `highway=path`, with an
                                            additional `bicycle=no` and
                                            map the turnstiles/kissing
                                            gates explicitly. The data
                                            consumer can then decide
                                            what to do.</div>
                                          <div> </div>
                                          <div>Note however that not
                                            everyone agrees with my
                                            vision and that I'm not
                                            always consistent too - I
                                            mapped a <a
                                              href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/107877794"
                                              rel="noopener noreferrer"
                                              target="_blank"
                                              moz-do-not-send="true">very
                                              peculiar case</a>
                                            yesterday that by my
                                            objective criteria should be
                                            a 'path', but that I mapped
                                            as footways due to their
                                            context as that felt more
                                            appropriate - but<a
                                              href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/126568080"
                                              rel="noopener noreferrer"
                                              target="_blank"
                                              moz-do-not-send="true">
                                              that place</a> has given
                                            me more tagging questions
                                            too...<br>
                                            <br>
                                            At last, some people say
                                            that "a footway needs a
                                            traffic sign to be a
                                            footway" or "a cycle path
                                            needs a traffic sign to be a
                                            cyclepath". That is a view I
                                            vehemently reject - not
                                            every qualitive footway has
                                            a traffic sign nor has every
                                            traffic sign a qualitative
                                            footway - although a traffic
                                            sign can help in making
                                            these decisions.<br>
                                            <br>
                                            Also abusing `highway=path`
                                            for shared infrastructure
                                            cycle/pedestrian
                                            infrastructure is something
                                            I loathe: it erases a lot of
                                            information and is an
                                            effective downgrade of the
                                            relevant ways from a
                                            routeplanning perspective,
                                            as we have to assume the way
                                            is a desire path (small,
                                            unpaved); not accessible to
                                            e.g. wheelchairs, strollers
                                            and rollerskate, instead of
                                            the very accessible nicely
                                            paved, wide footway. To be
                                            able to replicate all the
                                            information for this
                                            downgrade, we would need
                                            `surface=*`, `width=*`,
                                            `smoothness=*` and maybe
                                            even `wheelchair=*` to be
                                            sure it is a highly
                                            qualitative footway and
                                            quite a bit of tricky and
                                            inexact preprocessing.
                                            However, I do not have a
                                            perfect solution for the
                                            shared footways/cycleways as
                                            well - but marking as path
                                            is definitively worse.<br>
                                            So, Marc_marc: I'm sorry,
                                            but I do not agree with you
                                            and some of the wiki
                                            definitions! But that is
                                            fine - a disagreement is
                                            often due to a different
                                            perspective or some missing
                                            information. And OSM won't
                                            fail over a bit of
                                            disagreement ;)</div>
                                          <p> <br>
                                            <strong>Some history</strong></p>
                                          <p>Apart from my vision, it is
                                            also important to know that
                                            OpenStreetMap started in the
                                            UK, where there are plenty
                                            of vicinal roads. I think
                                            those where historically
                                            mapped as highway=footway
                                            too, but I'm not sure of
                                            that. Furthermore, as Gerard
                                            nicely stated earlier, it is
                                            a common translation error.</p>
                                          <p>Furhtermore, the iD editor
                                            used to "upgrade" tags: a
                                            `highway=footway +
                                            bicycle=yes` and
                                            `highway=cycleway +
                                            foot=yes` got upgraded to
                                            `highway=path; bicycle=yes;
                                            foot=yes`.  As the iD editor
                                            is widely used, there are
                                            quite some footways
                                            downgraded now...</p>
                                          <p>Kind regards,<br>
                                            Pieter</p>
                                          <div>On 18.02.21 10:27,
                                            Matthieu Gaillet wrote:</div>
                                          <blockquote style="padding:0px
                                            0.4em;border-left:2px solid
                                            rgb(16,16,255);margin:0px">Hi,
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div>I would like to know if
                                              there is some kind of
                                              consensus in Belgium
                                              regarding the use of
                                              <footway> and
                                              <path> tags.</div>
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div>My intuitive
                                              interpretation in the
                                              following : </div>
                                            <div>
                                              <ul>
                                                <li>a footway, generally
                                                  speaking, is anything
                                                  that is specifically
                                                  created for
                                                  pedestrians in
                                                  urbanised areas.</li>
                                                <li>a path, is generally
                                                  speaking anything that
                                                  is not a track (thus
                                                  not for 4 wheeled
                                                  vehicles) and not (as
                                                  well) paved like a
                                                  footway.</li>
                                              </ul>
                                            </div>
                                            <div>I know there are other
                                              much more loose
                                              interpretations that say
                                              that a footway might be a
                                              non-paved path, but my
                                              question is : why would
                                              one tag them differently
                                              than others ? After all, a
                                              path is not suitable for
                                              anything else than
                                              pedestrian use (except
                                              sometimes bikes) ? On the
                                              contrary, footways in
                                              urbanised places *are*
                                              special and it makes sense
                                              to map them differently.</div>
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div>I observe that some
                                              mappers are using the
                                              footway tags for paths in
                                              forests or fields in the
                                              middle of nowhere. Those
                                              are often "sentiers
                                              communaux" (public paths)
                                              mapped by balnam
                                              affiliates.  Its driving
                                              me nuts 😊  </div>
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div>- most of the time this
                                              difference in the way
                                              those paths are mapped
                                              doesn't reflect any
                                              physical nor practical
                                              reality on the field. </div>
                                            <div>- this creates
                                              vagueness and looseness, I
                                              see "normal" paths
                                              suddenly showed as
                                              "special" on maps without
                                              any clear reason. </div>
                                            <div>- some could argument
                                              that the path tag is not
                                              detailed enough. That's
                                              not true : it can be (and
                                              is) combined with a lot of
                                              other tags to qualify it
                                              from multiple point of
                                              views and renderers are
                                              already taking care of
                                              them. This is *not* the
                                              case of the footway which
                                              is (logically) kind of
                                              monolithic.</div>
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div>The only exception I
                                              see is a path in the
                                              country side that is
                                              explicitly marked (road
                                              signs) as pedestrian only,
                                              and/or has turnstiles or
                                              other gates to keep other
                                              users away.</div>
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div>Do you generally agree
                                              with my way of seeing
                                              things ? Is it at least
                                              the general way of doing
                                              things in Belgium ? Thanks
                                              for sharing your thoughts.</div>
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div> </div>
                                            <div>
                                              <div>
                                                <div>Matthieu</div>
                                              </div>
                                            </div>
                                            <br>
                                            <fieldset></fieldset>
                                            <pre>_______________________________________________
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</pre>
                                          </blockquote>
                                          <pre>-- 
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Pieter Vander Vennet</pre>
                                        </blockquote>
                                        <pre>-- 
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Pieter Vander Vennet</pre>
                                        <br>
                                        <fieldset></fieldset>
                                        <pre>_______________________________________________
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</pre>
                                      </blockquote>
                                    </div>
_______________________________________________<br>
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                                      href="mailto:Talk-be@openstreetmap.org"
                                      rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"
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                                      href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be"
                                      target="_blank"
                                      moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be</a></div>
                                </blockquote>
                              </div>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                        <br>
                        <div
                          style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:monospace">_______________________________________________<br>
                          Talk-be mailing list<br>
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                            rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"
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                            href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be"
                            rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"
                            moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be</a></div>
                      </blockquote>
                    </div>
                  </div>
                  <br>
                  <fieldset></fieldset>
                  <pre>_______________________________________________
Talk-be mailing list
<a href="mailto:Talk-be@openstreetmap.org" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Talk-be@openstreetmap.org</a>
<a href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be</a>
</pre>
                </blockquote>
              </div>
              _______________________________________________<br>
              Talk-be mailing list<br>
              <a href="mailto:Talk-be@openstreetmap.org" target="_blank"
                moz-do-not-send="true">Talk-be@openstreetmap.org</a><br>
              <a href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be"
                rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be</a><br>
            </blockquote>
          </div>
          _______________________________________________<br>
          Talk-be mailing list<br>
          <a href="mailto:Talk-be@openstreetmap.org" target="_blank"
            moz-do-not-send="true">Talk-be@openstreetmap.org</a><br>
          <a href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be"
            rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be</a><br>
        </blockquote>
      </div>
      <br>
      <fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
      <pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Talk-be mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Talk-be@openstreetmap.org">Talk-be@openstreetmap.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-be</a>
</pre>
    </blockquote>
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