[Tagging] Areas around doctors/dentists - or any other amenity

[Dominik George]

Hi,

> How should I tag the area (e.g. grounds) surrounding a doctor's surgery or dentist? Both wiki pages explicitly state that amenity=doctors/dentist should be drawn around the perimeter of the building.
> 
> I have seen some mappers apply the amenity=* tag to the whole area of the amenity, i.e., encompassing both buildings and grounds. amenity=fuel is one that springs to mind that is explicitly tagged like this but I have also seen things like amenity=pub mapped this way also (i.e. the pub building, car park and beer garden are all enveloped inside one large amenity=pub area).
> 
> Do the grounds of a doctor's surgery/dentist count as part of the
> amenity?

I would say, it depends:

 – If the amenity is a dedicated building, then probably the area
   around it can probably be considered part of it.
 – Is the area tagged otherweise? E.g. is a parking lot dedicated
   for users of the amenity tagged separately, or could it be?
   If so, tag it as appropriate, and add an operator=* tag to
   link it to the amenity

In most circumstances, I do not think the rea aroudn an amenity should
be part of it, as it is regularly either not dedicated to be used as
part of the amenity, or if it is, it has other specifics, like being a
parking lot.

> If so, does this apply to most (if not all) amenities? Or, if not,
> would a landuse=healthcare tag perhaps be useful?

IMHO, landuse=* is a more… legal… tag describing what the area is
intended to be used for, officially. Most doctors would be residents
of a residential area, tagged landuse=residential.

-nik