[Tagging] Clarification unclassified vs residential

[Andy Townsend]

On 23/02/2019 11:36, Peter Elderson wrote:
> The tagging scheme should have a clear intention to facilitate 
> rendering and routing. Then renderers and routers know what there is, 
> so they can decide how to handle it.


To be clear, "highway=road" is used when it _isn't_ clear what the 
classification should be.


>
> If residential area means that road class is highway=residential 
> unless taggted otherwise, that should be made very clear.


No, it doesn't.


> At the moment, I don't think it is clear, and road tagging in 
> residential areas in Nederland certainly does not follow this principle.


That's good!


> If the scheme is adopted and very clearly documented, I could adjust 
> the residential road tagging in my village (pop 25.000) in a couple of 
> hours. Most residential roads now are tagged as unclassified, I just 
> have to list them, determine if the default fits, then retag them as 
> highway=road.


Tagging roads that you know well as "highway=road" sounds like a mistake.


>
> The problem with such a default of course is: if the area is altered, 
> roads may (and will) unintentionally change because suddenly the 
> default applies or no longer applies. Also, wouldn't renderers and 
> routers will have to deal with roads crossing the border of a 
> residential area suddenly changing types, without a node to tie the 
> action to?


I think there's been a miscommunication here - there is no such 
default.  It's certainly not your fault - English as used to describe 
roads in the UK is the problem, with "unclassified" meaning a particular 
explicit classification.

Best Regards,

Andy