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OpenStreetMap is a free map of the world built by volunteers since 2004. Anyone can add or correct a road, path or building, and anyone can use the data, from phone apps to aid agencies.

OpenStreetMap Foundation

TechnologyHistory

The story behind the card

Steve Coast started OpenStreetMap in 2004 while studying at University College London. Britain's national mapping agency, the Ordnance Survey, did not release its data freely, so he cycled round Regent's Park with a GPS tracker and entered the first street himself that December. Volunteers around the world followed, walking and cycling streets or tracing satellite photos. The project proved its worth after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, when volunteers mapped the roads, buildings and camps of Port-au-Prince in about two days, giving aid groups one of the most detailed maps of the city then available. Humanitarian mappers have done the same after many disasters since.

Türkçe oku
OpenStreetMap, gönüllülerin 2004'ten beri birlikte çizdiği ücretsiz bir dünya haritasıdır. Herkes bir yol, patika ya da bina ekleyip düzeltebilir; telefon uygulamalarından yardım kuruluşlarına kadar herkes de bu veriyi kullanabilir.

Steve Coast, OpenStreetMap'i 2004'te Londra'daki University College London'da öğrenciyken başlattı. İngiltere'nin resmî harita kurumu Ordnance Survey verilerini ücretsiz paylaşmıyordu. Coast da yanına bir GPS cihazı alıp bisikletle Regent's Park'ın çevresini dolaştı ve o aralık ayında ilk sokağı haritaya kendisi ekledi. Ardından dünyanın dört bir yanından gönüllüler geldi: Kimi sokakları yürüyerek ya da bisikletle dolaştı, kimi uydu fotoğraflarının üzerinden çizim yaptı. Projenin değeri 2010 Haiti depreminde anlaşıldı. Gönüllüler Port-au-Prince'in yollarını, binalarını ve kamplarını iki gün kadar içinde haritaya geçirdi; yardım kuruluşları kentin o sırada elde bulunan en ayrıntılı haritalarından birine kavuştu. İnsani yardım haritacıları bunu sonraki pek çok afette de tekrarladı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: OpenStreetMap
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