Digging into the history of VGI data-sets: results from a worldwide study on OpenStreetMap mapping activity

Abstract

Volunteered geographic information (VGI) data-sets are characterised by heterogeneity due to influences from technical, social, environmental or economic factors. As a result, mapping progress does neither follow a spatially nor a temporally equal distribution, and thus can be hardly measured or predicted. Positively stated, heterogeneity leads to interesting VGI data-sets revealing regional peculiarities such as diverse community activities. This work proposes an approach for identifying regionally and temporally different developments with respect to mapping progress. Regional mapping progress is measured with a modified version of a previously proposed model for classifying activity stages, which has been used as foundation for a massive spatial and temporal analysis of the worldwide OpenStreetMap contributions between the years 2006 and 2013. It also allows the evaluation of rural and unpopulated areas. Results reveal that regional mapping progress heavily depends on a number of distinct influences such as geographical or legal borders, data imports, unexpected events or diverse community developments. The work highlights regions with distinct results by revealing individual mapping stories.

A Framework for Data-Centric Analysis of Mapping Activity in the Context of Volunteered Geographic Information

“…A first attempt towards a conceptual model for analysis of mapping activities has been proposed by Rehrl et al [18]. In subsequent works [19][20][21][22], this model has been used as foundation for arbitrary spatio-temporal analysis.…”

Tagging in Volunteered Geographic Information: An Analysis of Tagging Practices for Cities and Urban Regions in OpenStreetMap

“…In work by [2,17,40] and others, we see that in OSM, there is a small percentage of all contributors (between 5% and 10%) who perform almost all (between 80% and 90%) of the tagging in the OSM database. Future work will identify these major contributors in a selection of cities and urban areas.…”

“…This table lists all of the target tags and the number of suggested keys for each target tag on the OSM Map Features Wiki pages. The column "Total LV" is the number of keys multiplied by the number of cities (40). Then, for each step on the Likert Scale (Poor, Fair, Average, Good, and Excellent), we calculated the overall percentage of each step.…”

Exploring Data Model Relations in OpenStreetMap

“…There is also potential impact on the user base itself with the authors stating that "some users may lose interest, once they see certain object types have been completely mapped, or when they see 'sufficient' information being mapped". Other studies (such as [51]) find that the majority of contributors to nodes and ways in OSM are undertaken by experienced contributors. Gröchenig et al [51] find that less than 3% of all contributors in OSM have contributed to the project on more than 100 days.…”

“…Other studies (such as [51]) find that the majority of contributors to nodes and ways in OSM are undertaken by experienced contributors. Gröchenig et al [51] find that less than 3% of all contributors in OSM have contributed to the project on more than 100 days.…”