Proposal:Site
| Site Relation | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Proposed (under way) |
| Proposed by: | Jojo4u |
| Tagging: | type=site |
| Applies to: | 
|
| Definition: | A way to group features which belong together but cannot be adequately described by an area/multipolygon. |
| Statistics: |
|
| Draft started: | 2008-01-02 |
| RFC start: | 2010-02-01 |
Proposal
A way to group features (represented by nodes/ways/areas/relations) which belong together but cannot be adequately described by an area/multipolygon. A common example are dispersed power plants like wind, tidal and photovoltaic power plants which are mapped as nodes. This relation is understood to group man-made objects. For groups of natural objects which share the same name see proposed relation Cluster.
However, this relation is not to be used in cases where the elements are inside one or more areas where the perimeter can be tagged with an appropriate 
area tag. For example the tag amenity=school describes the perimeter of the school grounds, for schools with multiple sites the multipolygon relation should be used. For an university with buildings scattered throughout the city a multipolygon amenity=university with the buildings as role 
outer should be used.
Note also that it is not useful to create relation that has a perimeter of area (for example camp site) and includes objects within that area as elements. Each object in OSM has already a location and it is not necessary to duplicate this information.
The features should have a close geographic relationship, usually within the same town. For example do not use this relation to group all restaurants of a fast-food chain. Use a a combination of name=*/operator=*/network=* to group loosely coupled and/or widely distributed features - relations are not categories!
Reasons for Area/Multipolygon Insufficiency
- Members are nodes or open ways
- Member areas do not fit the multipolygon definition
- touching outer ways on more than one point
Tagging
| Key | Value | notes | statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| type | site | ||
| * | * | The main tag - whatever feature the site relation describes. E.g. amenity=university, site=parking, power=plant. | |
| name | * | The name of the feature | |
| site | * | Legacy tag describing the type of the site, better use the full tag (main tag). Existing usage may continue. Might also be used for new sites if no suitable full tag exists. |
Members
| Way or Node | Role | Recurrence? | Discussion |
|---|---|---|---|
  |
none | zero or more | Anything you want to tag as part of the site. e.g. buildings, parking entrances, power generators, (looking for more examples). |
 |
perimeter | zero or one | see sub-proposal Proposed_features/Site_Perimeter |
Examples
| Feature | Tag | Statistics | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mine where only entrances are mapped | type=site + man_made=mine |
Ofenkaulen Ofenkaulen
|
Documented Uses
| Feature | Tag | Statistics | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispersed facilities power plants like wind, tidal and photovoltaic power plants. | type=site + power=plant |
up to 3164 (2020) | Høg-Jæren Energipark Høg-Jæren Energipark
|
| Parking sites - useful for cases where parking entrances are mapped but parking area is not yet mapped. Once parking is mapped as an area with service roads marked site relation is no longer useful and may be safely deleted. | type=site + site=parking |
Parkhaus Liederhalle/Bosch-Areal Parkhaus Liederhalle/Bosch-Areal
| |
| Heritage site Historical Objects Map |
type=site + heritage=* |
at most ~1000 (2015-08) | Weißenhofsiedlung Weißenhofsiedlung
|
| Historic site Historical Objects Map |
type=site + historic=* |
at most ~3800 (2015-08) | Festung Torgau Festung Torgau
|
| French survey point site (IGN import) | type=site + site=geodesic |
Le Bélieu I Le Bélieu I
|
Documented Uses (incompatible with current definition)
| Feature | Tag | Problem | Statistics | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK NaPTAN | type=site + site=stop_area |
partial import, should migrate to public_transport=stop_area | Bridgtown. Watling Street. Cross Street Bridgtown. Watling Street. Cross Street
| |
| South Africa shopping areas | type=site + site=mall |
most representable as area | no known cases of useful relations | |
| Piste site (rejected) | type=site + site=piste |
tagging as area preferred by some, issue open | Meiringen - Hasliberg Meiringen - Hasliberg
| |
| Camp site (proposed) | type=site + site=camp_site |
most representable as area | no known cases of useful relations | |
| Playground site (rarely used, no known cases where it is not duplicating info inherently stored by OSM databse) | type=site + site=playground |
no known cases where it is useful | no known cases of useful relations |
Statistics
2015-08: 135 392 total, 48 476 NAPTAN, 72 586 IGN, 14 330 other uses.
2016-04: 136 829 total, 48 103 NAPTAN, 72 578 IGN, 16 148 other uses.
Rendering
Note that rendering support may be hard to implement. OpenInfraMap renders power plants tagged with type=site.
See Also
Proposed_features/Site_Perimeter sub-proposal bringing areas to the relation.
Discussion
Discussion on the Talk page.
"Feature Proposal - RFC - Site Relation" from 2011 on the tagging mailing list.
"Feature Proposal - RFC - Site Relation" from 2015.
Origins
This proposal was created by User:Milliams with significant editioral work by User:Joshdoe. In 2015/2016 User:Jojo4u developed the proposal further towards the principle only when not representable as area. A version of the original proposal from 2013 can be found here.