[OSM-talk] best way to map large areas

[Robin Paulson]

i've seen various discussions here about the maximum length of ways,
concerning motorways, railways, etc. and why it's bad idea to have a
long road represented by a single way

what about areas?

i want to create some landuse=residential areas for Auckland, and
they're going to be pretty big; what's the best approach?

1. map it all as one area, composed of one way (contravenes the 'no
long ways' rule)?

2. map it as several smaller areas, which overlap (seems clumsy)?

3. map it as one large area, composed of several ways which are joined
(looks best to me, but will the renderers understand it)?