[talk-au] Discussion of state regulation and planing issues for OSM

[Herbert.Remi]

Country: Australia, Language: English, Topic: Regulation

This AU email forum is the best there is, but I wish there was something more. So, I will bring this topic up here where there may be community support for something extra. From the header above this user group is already specific but is it specific enough? This group discusses mostly detail, but the details revolve around a concept and that is what I am interested in here. The recent Wollongong discussion bought this to light. The fundamental assumption is that OSM represents the real world.

What is covered?

- Database design: The OpenStreetMap is a database and use is restricted by its design, key types and permitted values. There is however much scope in actual use that depends on interpretation.

- OSM standards: Some of this ambiguity is resolved in the best practice outlined in the OSM Wiki and worth knowing, as it is an attempt at standardisation and actively enforced by some members of the community.

- Regional standards: The AU email forum serves as a regional discussion forum to get some sort of consensus of how Australia issues are to be dealt with in Australia, i.e. adapting OSM to Australian requirements.

- State laws and regulations: Australia is a federation and each state has its own laws and regulations. Local government is another level. This autonomy shows up in OSM particularly in terms of permissions: who can do what. In this context, we need to consider private/public property, military and secure zones, and finally nature reserves and national parks with restricted access but special rules.

- Planning codes and zoning: This last one has got to do with how land is used over time which arises in OSM as life cycles and featured also in the Wollongong discussion as “regeneration”. It commonly arises with the rezoning of land, release of land for public use, leases on land for grazing and private use (parking). I have an interest in greenfield public land developments: rezoned or planned. Once it has funding (parliament) the project passes the hurdle that something changes in OSM, even though at this stage it may not be anything visible. There is community interest to see this on a map. There are many examples of this that include nature reserves and new suburbs. End of life issues are track regeneration but also track realignment which is common for mountain biking single track management. It is not uncommon to hide but keep old track realignments.

This AU email forum does not seem the pace for the last two items, but the Wollongong discussion shows that awareness of these things is important for the OSM maps to make any sense. Particularly if the maps are for navigation (autorouting) or when render specialist maps (mountain biking or walking), then such information is critical. There may be a discussion for a track or area how to best define the permissions on paths and tracks.

There is a lot of information on the web about this sort of thing on government and official websites. I have further written to state government departments requesting clarification and improvements. Local tensions are not uncommon with competing claims. This tension can be seen in the OSM community with certain keys toggling between individual preferences. Mappers are people and advocate their interests on OSM and sometimes join OSM specifically for this purpose.

Are there any suggestions where matter 4 and 5 could be discussed and links provided so that the OSM community can communicate, negotiate and formulate a direction for these things?
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