Deb Bassett - Urbanwide

Go mapping in Leeds this weekend!

I’ve enthused about mapping before, and now here’s your chance to help get Leeds on the map. This weekend, 15th and 16th September, sees Leeds’ first mapping party weekend and I’m really looking forward to going along to help fill in some of the gaps. The event is organised by local geo expert, Tim Waters, who presented at last month’s GeekUp and has also kindly offered to show us the results of the party at next month’s GeekUp.

Current Leeds Coverage:

Open Street Map aims to map the world in order to provide geographical data that is free for all to use. In the UK, mapping data is not free to use, even though the taxes we pay funds the mapping process.

Anyone is welcome to take part in the event providing they come armed with a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit, although some will be available to borrow - full training will be given. Even if you can only donate a couple of hours, you can still contribute to the project!

Walk, cycle and drive around the city, mapping the streets, points of interest, paths, parks, pubs, and whatever else you feel like doing!

For full details of this weekend’s event, see the upcoming page. Hope to see you there!

Mapping Otley

Over the last few weeks I’ve been having fun with Open Street Map (OSM). For those who don’t know, OSM aims to map the world in order to provide geographical data that is free for all to use. In the UK, geo data is not free to use, even though the taxes we pay funds the mapping process.

I’m enjoying OSM as it appeals to my geeky side, yet gets me out on my bike too in order to collect GPS tracks to later convert into maps.

Here’s a map of Otley that I generated from OSM data using xmlstarlet to convert the XML OSM data to SVG, then Inkscape to convert a portion of the SVG to a PNG.

Much to my surprise when I started doing OSM, the major roads in Otley had already been mapped so I can’t claim credit for all of the work done here. There’s some way to go yet but I’m enjoying the challenge.

If you’re interested in contributing to the OSM project, here’s how to get involved.