A long delayed article on OpenStreetMap that I having been co-writing with Chris Perkins, has been finished and published in the journal North West Geography.







"The potential of user-generated cartography: a case study of the OpenStreetMap project and Mapchester mapping party", North West Geography, Volume 8, Number 1, 2008. (A local copy is archived here.)

Abstract
Collaborative approaches based upon volunteered input into shared Internet-based resources are beginning to offer a radical and new alterative to more traditional mapping. This paper explores the potential of one of the most developed of these ‘open’ maps, in a case study of the OpenStreetMap project and of the practices deployed during a ‘mapping party’ in Manchester.
The successes and weaknesses of the Mapchester weekend are discussed and it is concluded that the democratising and social potential of the new medium is already being realised.

Keywords
Open mapping, Manchester, OpenStreetMap, Mapping parties, User-generated cartography.