Did you resolve to get in shape this year? We are nearly six weeks in, and maybe you haven’t started, or maybe you have already given up! Don’t worry, you are not alone. Fitness related New Year’s resolutions are always very popular and often broken.
Business listings and other points of interest are slowly gaining momentum in OpenStreetMap. Curious to know how prevalent gyms and fitness centers are in OpenStreetmap? Check out this table featuring the same cities we presented last month in our previous resolutions post:
| Fitness Points of Interest* | with Addresses | with Website | with Hours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland | 1 | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Dublin | 11 | 18% | 27% | 0% |
| Hong Kong | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Melbourne | 45 | 47% | 47% | 13% |
| Mexico City | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mumbai | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| San Francisco | 49 | 55% | 22% | 4% |
| São Paulo | 5 | 20% | 0% | 0% |
| Seoul | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Singapore | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Stockholm | 48 | 15% | 19% | 6% |
| Vancouver | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Clearly lots of editing opportunity!
Each one of these cities is likely to have many more fitness related businesses than what is present in OpenStreetMap. The active OpenStreetMap communities of editors may just be focused on adding other features. Of those we have found, business hours are low across the board. Not surprising when the common tag for adding hours seems complicated at first glance. We break it down in our suggestions below.
Helpful Tags
If your fitness resolution has fallen flat, get re-energized by adding or enhancing fitness related businesses in OpenStreetMap! Need some help choosing tags? Here are some suggestions:
- name=*
- addr:housenumber=*
- leisure=fitness_centre
- website=*
- opening_hours=*
- Tips (because the opening_hours tag can be confusing)
- Use military time.
- YES: 06:00-22:00
- NO: 6am to 10pm
- Use two letter day indicators: Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
- YES: Mo-Fr
- NO: Mon thru Fri
- Do not add extra spaces between two letter day indicators or time ranges
- YES: Mo-Fr 06:00-22:00
- NO: Mo - Fr 06:00 - 22:00
- Separate more complex hours with a semicolon
- YES: Mo-Fr 06:00-20:00; Sa-Su 08:00-16:00
- No: another other separator besides a semicolon!
- Additional examples:
- 24/7
- Mo-Fr 06:00-22:00; Sa-Su 08:00-16:00
- Mo-Su 06:00-22:00; Th off
- Use military time.
- Looking for a helpful interface to help your format this tag properly? Check out YoHours
- Tips (because the opening_hours tag can be confusing)
Where to Start
Do you have a membership to a gym in your neighborhood? Add that one first. Do you pass by a fitness center that you are curious about on your way home from work every day? Don’t be shy. Stop in and ask for information. Save those details in OpenStreetMap for future retrieval. Maybe you just need a fitness gadget or some new fitness apparel to kick your fitness resolution into overdrive! What is your go-to sporting goods store? Add it to OpenStreetMap.
Interactive Map
Would it be helpful to see where the current fitness related POIs are in OpenStreetMap? There’s a map for that! Hover over any of the bright blue highlighted fitness points of interest to bring up an info bubble with links to editing tools that can be used to add additional tags. (While you pan and zoom to your neighborhood, note that fitness POIs only show up once you zoom in to level 15.)
This map is interactive! Open full screen ➹
Not familiar with San Francisco? Search for your city! Is your go-to fitness place missing all together? Shift-click anywhere on the map to open iD or open your favorite OpenStreetMap editor to start mapping!
If you are trying to decide between creating a point or a polygon to represent your feature, a point is great when the gym or fitness centre is in a building that contains other businesses and/or residences. If your feature occupies the entire building, digitize a building polygon if it doesn’t already exist and add your tags to it.
Look for more posts in the New Year’s Resolution series soon!
Getting Started with OpenStreetMap
Need instructions on how to edit with iD? Here are some links to outstanding tutorials from LearnOSM, the OpenStreetMap wiki, and the United States Department of State’s Humanitarian Information Unit:
Are you a mapping wiz and interested in a more advanced editor? Try out JOSM with excellent documentation from Mapbox.
Editing with a Mobile Device
With points of interest, I bet you are interested in a mobile app to edit OpenStreetMap while you are on the go.
iOS users can check out Go Map!! by Bryce Cogswell. This free editor allows you to add features and edit existing features. Check out the Go Map!! wiki page for more details. Pushpin by Fulcrum is another excellent iOS editor for OpenStreetMap points of interest.
Looking for an Android equivalent? Vespucci by Marcus Wolschon is a great option. Check out the Vespucci home page for documentation and tutorials.
Careful, now. Adding and enhancing features in OpenStreetMap is fun, but to burn lots of calories editing, you’ll need a treadmill desk. Get outside, increase your local knowledge, and share it with the world through your OpenStreetMap edits!
Check out all the posts in the Targeted Editing series:
