[OSM-talk] Mapping everything as areas

Gervase Markham gerv-gmane at gerv.net
Fri Nov 27 19:32:10 GMT 2009


On 25/11/09 21:59, Roy Wallace wrote:
> This raises another interesting question, that is, whether highways=*
> should *necessarily* express logical "paths of travel", or whether
> they are just a convenient way to represent an *area* used as a path
> of travel, as a placeholder for future, more detailed mapping (e.g. as
> an area).

Even the "logical" viewpoint benefits from roads as areas. When they are 
areas, they have two sides, and things (house numbers, postboxes, bus 
stops) can profitably be unambiguously attached to the appropriate edge. 
When they are lines, the bus stop has to be an extra node placed an 
arbitrary distance to the side, and is not connected to the road unless 
you go to the trouble of defining a relation.

Gerv





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