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Encyclopedia of GIS pp 1–5Cite as

OpenStreetMap

Definition

OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org) is a community-driven “project that creates and distributes free geographic data of the world” (OpenStreetMap, 2015e).

Historical Background

Often referred to as the Wikipedia of maps, OpenStreetMap was started as an alternative to the high-quality, but expensive, government datasets provided by the Ordnance Survey in the UK. Steve Coast, a physics student at the University College London at that time, first introduced the idea of a free street map based on GPS tracks provided by volunteers in 2004 (Gyford, 2004). The idea was quickly adopted by a growing international community. In summer 2006, the OpenStreetMap Foundation was registered as a legal entity responsible for the OpenStreetMap server infrastructure, fund raising, and potential liability issues. The first slippy map – an interactive web map that can be freely zoomed and panned – was generated from OpenStreetMap data in November 2006. An agreement with Yahoo! in...

Keywords

  • Street Segment
  • Server Infrastructure
  • Volunteer Geographic Information
  • Aerial Imagery
  • Online Channel

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This review of the history of OpenStreetMap is based on the corresponding OpenStreetMap wiki page and the sources linked therein (OpenStreetMap, 2015b).

  2. 2.

    https://www.mapbox.com

  3. 3.

    http://stamen.com

  4. 4.

    https://cartodb.com

  5. 5.

    http://ideditor.com

  6. 6.

    http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Potlatch_2

  7. 7.

    https://josm.openstreetmap.de

  8. 8.

    http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Osmosis

  9. 9.

    https://github.com/openstreetmap/osm2pgsql

  10. 10.

    http://postgis.net

  11. 11.

    http://mapnik.org

  12. 12.

    https://github.com/mapbox/carto

  13. 13.

    http://leafletjs.com

  14. 14.

    https://www.mapbox.com/mapbox-studio/

  15. 15.

    http://openlayers.org

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Research of Spatial Information and Department of Geography, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Carsten Keßler

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  1. Carsten Keßler
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Correspondence to Carsten Keßler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Shashi Shekhar

  2. Rutgers Business School, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Hui Xiong

  3. The University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Xun Zhou

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Keßler, C. (2015). OpenStreetMap. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H., Zhou, X. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23519-6_1654-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23519-6_1654-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23519-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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