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This page aims to provide information for journalists who are interested in Openstreetmap and Mappa Mercia.

Press Release

Click here for a pdf version of this press release.

Another First for Birmingham!

OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you.

Today Birmingham takes a huge step to becoming a digital City. The metropolitan area of Birmingham and its environs within the motorway ring have now been completely digitally remapped by its own citizens in a format which is freely editable and available at www.openstreetmap.org.

It is the first English city to be completely remapped in this way. It joins the likes of Paris, Berlin, Canberra and Vienna.

Birmingham now has a digital map that is more up-to-date and accurate than all other online or satnav maps. Only Ordnance Survey can claim to be more accurate – and they have huge technical and financial resources at their disposal.

( Click here for a detailed view of Birmingham)

The OpenStreetMap of Birmingham has been created by local people, with local knowledge, who take pride in how their neighbourhoods are represented. They can match, and even surpass, the efforts of commercial mappers who spend millions creating this kind of rich data. A dedicated band of 100 volunteers has been collecting GPS data whilst cycling, walking, and riding the buses and trains. One of our team has even mapped by canal boat!

The raw positional data is supplemented by additional visual observations on the ground and then edited into a format that can be rendered as a map readable by humans. All the software used in the project has been developed as open source software and is free to download and use. All participants have to do is invest their time and pay attention to detail. All data once submitted is editable in a wiki-style process.

It’s very satisfying to see a complete city mapped in OpenStreetMap. Four years ago when this project was created we were looking at a blank screen and most commentators thought we were crazy. said Andy Robinson, secretary of the OpenStreetMap Foundation and a prolific mapper in the West Midlands.

The Birmingham effort is part of a world wide movement to digitally remap the entire world which started in 2004. The project was originated in the UK and now involves some 85,000 enthusiasts globally, who have so far mapped almost 14 million miles of road globally. We have mapped some 15,000 residential roads, 6,000 footpaths and 9,000 other roads in Birmingham (and over 700 bus stops and 300 pubs and 200 traffic lights and 300 postboxes)

Why Re-map the World?

We need a free dataset for programmers, social activists, cartographers, and communities and the like to use geodata and create maps suited to their purposes without being limited by proprietary restrictions designed to protect large corporate investments in data collection. Under-developed countries are particularly helped by a project of this sort, because it is just not economic for commercial mappers to map their areas in detail.

How can it be accurate? The essence of a wiki-style process is that all users have a stake in having accurate data. If one person puts in inaccurate data, maliciously or accidentally, the other 99.9% of people can check it, fix it, or get rid of it.

Just think how amazing it was a few years back when you saw Google Maps for the first time. Suddenly mapping was cool, and access via an API* lead to a wave of innovation. Satnav was nowhere 3 years ago. Look at it now! But you still can’t access the incredible amount of data locked behind the API and you can’t add or improve it, so your applications are limited. Just think of the explosion of innovation, much of it in unexpected areas, that’s possible when the data is available!

All the software used in the project has been developed as opensource software and is free to download and use. The data and maps are licensed by Creative Commons which defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright – all rights reserved – and the public domain – no rights reserved. What this means to users (and this isn’t legal advice) is basically you can do what you like with the data, so long as you mention the original creator and the licence and anyone else can do the same with anything you produce.

A flagship example of the power of opening up access to geodata is OpenCycleMap.

It’s a customised online map for cyclists, based on OpenStreetMap data. It shows things that are interesting to cyclists including signed cycle routes, offroad cycle paths, bike shops and bike parking – and of course hills – whilst diminishing other things like motorways that are of little interest. It’s built on top of OpenStreetMap, and was recently commended by the British Cartographic Society.

So We’ve Got a Map, What’s Next?

There’s most of the Black Country to map for a start!

Local businesses and organisations can start using OSM maps and data, rather than proprietary sources, freeing themselves from the technical, financial and accuracy restrictions of commercial mapping providers.

Now that we have a complete set of local data, Midlands software developers can start using it to create novel applications (e.g. road traffic simulations, tourist trails, restaurant guides).Why would a business consider using OpenStreetMap data when anyone can use maps from Google, Mapquest or Yahoo for free? Put succinctly: they have control. OSM data and map users have significantly more control over their maps than someone who uses a free API. With OSM you can modify, supplement and select the data to create a customised map.

It might take a 100 people to produce a map like this but we need a 1,000 to keep it up to date. We need communities and individuals to improve and verify the map via a simple tool available at http://openstreetbugs.appspot.com/ (or on our local West Midlands site https://www.mappa-mercia.org/openstreetbugs.shtml). All they need is local knowledge and access to the internet.For more information, individuals and community organisations can contact Brian Prangle (Tel: 0121 604 1141, Email: community@mappa-mercia.org).

Press contact: Andy Robinson (Tel: 0777 553 7872, Email: press@mappa-mercia.org)

More Information for Editors Can Be Found at:

*note for non-technical news editors: API Application Programming Interface – a method by which commercial software developers “open” their software via a gateway to third parties whilst at the same time protecting their commercial intellectual property i.e. you can “hook” into the software but you can’t see the internal workings. [Back]

What does “Mappa Mercia” mean?

The name Mappa Mercia is derived from two historical names which are closely linked with the Midlands: The Hereford Mappa Mundi and the ancient kingdom of Mercia.

Mappa Mundi is a general name for medieval European maps of the world and the largest preserved example of these maps happens to be the Hereford Mappa Mundi from around 1300 which is on display in Hereford Cathedral.

The kings of Mercia reigned from the 5th to the 9th century over the area that we nowadays call the Midlands. The Offa’s Dyke on the border of England and Wales is probably the most famous relict of Mercia.

So, Mappa Mercia basically means a Map of the Midlands. And that’s what we want to create!

Images of the Birmingham Map

Please read the Openstreetmap License before publishing maps; we want everyone to know that they’re free to copy, so you have to tell them when you publish.

Further Information

The main Openstreetmap website has a large press section with background information about the project and with images suitable for press use: OpenStreetMap press portal.

For further information please contact press@mappa-mercia.org.