OpenStreetMap: User-Generated Street Maps

  • Authors:
  • Mordechai (Muki) Haklay;Patrick Weber

  • Affiliations:
  • University College London;University College London

  • Venue:
  • IEEE Pervasive Computing
  • Year:
  • 2008

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Abstract

The activity of mapping our environment used to be the preserve of highly trained and well-equipped surveyors and cartographers. The increase in the availability of computing in the wider environment through laptops, hand-held computers, and mobile phones, in combination with the free access to location information from GPS satellites, provided new opportunities for a wider range of people to be part of mapping activities and to create a bottom-up map, generated by users. In this article, we describe the Open Geodata project OpenStreetMap. We provide an overview of the project, the techniques used to collect, organize, and deliver mapping information, and conclude with an analysis of the opportunities and challenges that the project faces.