Adding buildings to OpenStreetMap has been difficult in the past.
Collecting a GPS trace of a building yields poor results because the
building interferes with GPS reception. But buildings can be
interesting to have on a map. Large collections of buildings in cities
can look very impressive. Lone buildings in remote areas can be
important landmarks for navigation. Or a shelter from bad weather.
There are more than 28 million buildings in the OpenStreetMap
database. Recent donations to OpenStreetMap contributors of aerial
imagery that permits deriving OSM objects without restriction have
made mapping buildings practical in more parts of the world.
The Project of the Month for February is to add local buildings to the map.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Project_of_the_week/2011/Jan_26
This is a Project of the Month. Project of the Week returns
next week, while PotM will continue until the end of February. These projects
inspire mappers to contribute data they might not have considered
previously, and allow us to be inspired by the projects of other
mappers.
This is your Project of the Month. Make suggestions. Inspire other
mappers. What is it about contributing to OpenStreetMap that
interests you? Postboxes? Bowing alleys? Share your OpenStreetMap
obession by contributing a Project of the Month.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Project_of_the_week/Proposals
Timber framed building photo by WikiMedia user Gerbil
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Gerbil
is licensed CC-By-SA
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en