[Tagging] Populated settlement classification

[Warin]

On 08/09/19 01:24, Iago Casabiell wrote:
> Well, as there is no clear consensus in how to classify between 
> hamlets, villages, towns and cities, i'd tried to move the debate as 
> best i could.
>
> My goal would be to create a default algorithm to classify these 
> places, but as jeisenbe pointed out, there are several criterias 
> around the globe as to how to classify them, so i created that table 
> to reflect the uses.
>
> Maybe we could also mark the first row of the table with a global 
> classification, for any new data entered in the OSM database, and try 
> to move the existing ones toward it.

No. The world has differences in the way highways are seen and places 
are classified by the local populations. This has to do with history, 
population densities and wealth. Moving to a theme that suits one area 
of the world will leave other areas of the world poorly mapped. It is 
expected that a major town in Germany will be big in area, but a major 
town in Africa can be small in area, have less population but it is 
'major' as it provides local services that are not available for long 
distances.


>
> the alternative is just to reflect the uses of this tags in different 
> parts of the World.

Some local guides and lists have discussions on this topic. For example 
see 
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Australian_Tagging_Guidelines#Places. 
I also remember discussion on the uk list.