[Talk-GB] What is a residential area?

[Martin Wynne]

On 07/05/2019 12:04, David Woolley wrote:
> I would say it was anything that was landuse=residential, and, in the 
> UK, that would basically be anything where the primary planning class 
> was C3 or C4.

Thanks David.

I think this goes to the heart of my (mis)understanding of what OSM is for?

Are we trying to create a legal reference document?

Or a description of what a visitor would see on the ground?

If I look at the place I linked, I see a house in a garden and a hedge. 
If you ask most folk what they see, they would say the same.

I don't know anyone who would say "I see a residential area". Or "I see 
a plot of land with planning class C3 or C4".

Given that such information is available elsewhere, does it need to be 
in OSM? Does anyone use OSM for such legal purposes? On the other hand, 
where else are you going to find out that a property has a hedge on one 
side and a fence on the other?

cheers,

Martin.