Proposal:Utility facilities

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Utility facilities
Proposal status: Approved (active)
Proposed by: fanfouer
Tagging: utility=*
Applies to: node area
Definition: Consistently extend usage of utility=* to service/industrial landuses, buildings and cabinets
Statistics:

Draft started: 2022-05-31
RFC start: 2022-08-12
Vote start: 2023-01-12
Vote end: 2023-01-26

Originally intended to be used with marker=*, utility=* has got a wider interest from mappers and it should now be reviewed in combination with landuse=*, building=* and man_made=street_cabinet.

Proposal

It is proposed to use utility=* in combination with landuse=industrial, building=service, building=industrial and man_made=street_cabinet to state in which essential infrastructure they are involved.

As a consequence, it is also proposed to deprecate and replace several values of street_cabinet=*, acting as specific duplicates of more general utility=*:

As another consequence, it is also proposed to deprecate and replace values of industrial=*, acting as specific duplicates of more general utility=*:

It's currently not proposed to deprecate street_cabinet=* nor industrial=* globally, as other values don't correspond to proper utilities and will remain used.

It is not proposed to change anything regarding industrial=oil despite interest during the RFC. Tagging oil production and refinement facility will remain in industrial=* for now.

Rationale

utility=* key sounds to be an efficient way to link a large diversity of features to essential infrastructures, to begin with marker=* or man_made=utility_pole.
We can now make several specific similar concepts converge into this unified framework.

Keys like street_cabinet=* or industrial=* has got a similar meaning. They were introduced prior utility=* with a less elaborated tagging knowledge in mind.
Replacing the first by the more general last will not bring any additional information. It is useful to make different OSM data converge towards the same tagging model.
It will finally ease consumers' life, particularly renders and reinforce common tagging relevancy, while the two practices currently got an equivalent usage level around the world.

Proposed evolution of tagging is summarized in this table:

Current => Proposed
Street cabinet
man_made=street_cabinet
Industrial facility
landuse=industrial
Service building
building=service
Utility pole
man_made=utility_pole
Marker
marker=*
Street cabinet
man_made=street_cabinet
Industrial facility
landuse=industrial
Service building
building=service
Utility pole
man_made=utility_pole
Marker
marker=*
power street_cabinet=power industrial=power unknown utility=power utility=power utility=power utility=power utility=power utility=power utility=power
water street_cabinet=water industrial=water unknown utility=water utility=water utility=water utility=water utility=water
telecom street_cabinet=telecom unknown utility=telecom utility=telecom utility=telecom utility=telecom utility=telecom utility=telecom
gas street_cabinet=gas industrial=gas unknown utility=gas utility=gas utility=gas utility=gas utility=gas
sewerage street_cabinet=sewerage unknown unknown utility=sewerage utility=sewerage utility=sewerage utility=sewerage utility=sewerage
street lighting street_cabinet=street_lighting unknown utility=street_lighting utility=street_lighting utility=street_lighting utility=street_lighting

Some cells are left grey since some combinations are currently unusual, but not impossible.

Utility scope

However, not all industrial facilities, street cabinets/service buildings related to technical activities are linked to utilities.
Following activities aren't tied to utilities and are then out of the scope of this proposal:

  • Public transportation (including railway)
  • Traffic management and measurement (for the last, use monitoring:traffic=yes)
  • Postal services

Oil production and refinement has been studied to be included in this utility=* proposal but further thinking is required. We should discuss on this particular point a bit more, particularly on industrial=oil Talk page.

Preserved street_cabinet=* values should remain unmodified on features and we may then use corresponding amenity=* or more specific tagging.
This proposal won't define any new tagging for that.

This proposal doesn't change the way utility=* is used in combination with features it combines to.
utility=* will still expect one single value for the main purpose of the facility, despite we address larger perimeters.
For instance, despite a wastewater plant needs power equipment and chemical to run, it should get utility=sewerage on its surrounding perimeter.

How do I find it?

Local signage, documentation or even knowledge can help to find the right value.
It is sometimes attached to the operator responsible to run the given facility you found.
For instance, if you find a blind cabinet in Japan with Tepco signage on it, you can use utility=power with high confidence level.

Industrial landuse

Some facilities are large enough to be contained in a wide perimeter landuse=industrial.
It currently doesn't exist a consistent way to state some of those industrial facilities are part of wider utility network.

Furthermore, industrial=* is mostly used to define the nature of such facilities, like refineries, works, warehouses.
It doesn't provide knowledge about what is processed (see substance=*) nor the actual activity. Replacing values like gas will free contributors from such inconsistencies.

Using utility=* when necessary will bring such knowledge to the whole perimeter at once.

This proposal only covers industrial landuses. It is not proposed to use utility=* on amenity=fuel neither on commercial offices.

Industrial/service buildings

Service/industrial buildings currently don't have a particular key to state in which utility they are involved.
This knowledge is as relevant as street cabinets and this proposal is an opportunity to have a common tagging standard for that.

Adding such a key to buildings allows to get a corresponding global surface reserved for each utility activities.
Usual risks mitigation and activities splits lead to dedicated buildings for one activity, which eases their description on OSM.

This proposal only covers service/industrial buildings that actually are part of networks/infrastructures. It is not proposed to use utility=* on commercial or head offices.

Street cabinets

utility=* is now used similarly to corresponding values street_cabinet=*, with same magnitude order.
This knowledge is useful and need to be preserved when replacing particular tagging practices with the more common one.

It doesn't sound necessary to introduce street_cabinet=utility and we may encourage to remove existing street_cabinet=* value when corresponding utility=* is available.

Tagging

man_made=street_cabinet, building=service, building=industrial and landuse=industrial tagging aren't changed, neither their affinity.

Regarding street cabinets, as of this proposal, unless street_cabinet=* refinement afterwards, utility=* replaces values of street_cabinet=*.

Edition management

Affected pages

Several pages are planned to be affected by the review of this proposal:

Tagging to be replaced

Obsolete tag Usage Used for? New tag(s) to use
street_cabinet=power 51 752 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts power equipment utility=power
street_cabinet=telecom 29 301 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts telecommunication equipment utility=telecom
street_cabinet=street_lighting 1 369 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts street lighting equipment utility=street_lighting
street_cabinet=gas 1 401 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts gas equipment utility=gas
street_cabinet=cable_tv 888 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts cable television equipment utility=television
street_cabinet=communications 592 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts telecommunication equipment utility=telecom
street_cabinet=water_management 223 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts raw water or drinkable water measurement or control equipment utility=water
street_cabinet=water_management 223 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts polluted water measurement or control equipment utility=sewerage
street_cabinet=broadband 149 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts telecommunication equipment utility=telecom
street_cabinet=water 175 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts raw water or drinkable water piping utility=water
street_cabinet=water 175 on 2022-11-15 The cabinet hosts polluted water piping utility=sewerage
industrial=gas 9 459 on 2022-11-15 An industrial facility processing gas utility=gas

Approx 100 000 occurrences need to be replaced

How to proceed

  1. Wiki will be changed during the post-vote cleanup phase and it's not an option.
  2. What to do for deprecation to lead to old key not being created anymore? Validation rules in editors as to encourage mappers to replace the old key by the new one.
  3. Support for new key should be lobbied for: Editors presets and second part of validation rules. As mostly proposed replacements aren't rendered on osm-carto, it won't be necessary to make any modification.
  4. What needs to be done with existing usage of old tags: Here, nothing. Mappers will carefully replace then when they found them. No need to propose an automated edit.

External discussions

Examples

Industrial landuses

Photo Location Tagging Note
2020-05 - Station d'épuration de Ronchamp - 01.jpg France

landuse=industrial
man_made=wastewater_plant
utility=sewerage

Large wastewater plants are industrial facilities, using chemicals substances and mechanical machinery to process sewerage and prevent pollution. It can be combined with utility=sewerage.

Street cabinets

Photo Location Tagging Note
British pcp dslam street cabinets.jpg UK

man_made=street_cabinet
utility=telecom
operator=Openreach
telecom=service_device
location=pavement
hinge=horizontal

The cabinet seen on the front hosts a DSLAM device to provide higher bitrates to households. It is described with utility=telecom
Gas substation delivery.jpg France

man_made=street_cabinet
utility=gas
operator=GRDF
pipeline=substation
location=pavement
hinge=horizontal

A gas delivery substation self contained in a street cabinet. It is involved in utility=gas activities.
French substation prcs.jpg France

man_made=street_cabinet
utility=power
operator=Enedis
power=substation
substation=minor_distribution
transformer=main
voltage:primary=20000
voltage:secondary=400
location=green

A power substation intended to feed households with low voltage electricity. It is involved in utility=power activities.

Service buildings

Photo Location Tagging Note
Service building.png Unknown

building=service
utility=power
power=substation
substation=minor_distribution
voltage=10000;400

A dedicated building hosting a power substation and then involved in power utility.
Pipeline Facility 1.jpg Austria

building=service
utility=gas

Service building in a wider pipeline substation, involved in gas transmission through pipelines.
Diedrichshagen alter-Hochbehälter April-2009 SL272183.JPG Germany

building=service
utility=water

Water valve room in front of a covered reservoir deserves to be involved in water utility.
Telecom fibre service building.jpg France

building=service
utility=telecom
telecom=exchange
telecom:medium=fibre

A dedicated building hosting telecommunication exchange is involved in telecom utility.

Voting

Voting closed

Voting on this proposal has been closed.

It was approved with 19 votes for, 4 votes against and 1 abstention.

Approved at 83% of approval rate

  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. I deeply approve this rationalisation of tags. Thanks for the proposition. Will you do the PR in ID and JOSM ? Babouche Verte (talk) 03:15, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
Yes sir, editors presets and validation rules will be improved during post vote cleanup Fanfouer (talk) 11:34, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
Step by step. As answered what is contained into something isn't the point of street_cabinet=* as the same issue raises for buildings. This voting doesn't prevent to work on this later Fanfouer (talk) 09:28, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. -- Something B (talk) 11:09, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Ydel (talk) 11:32, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Benoitdd (talk) 13:35, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Rjw62 (talk) 13:37, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. Good idea to use a single key-value pair for all OSM objects related to a particular utility. --JeroenvanderGun (talk) 15:53, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Fanfouer (talk) 16:06, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I oppose this proposal I oppose this proposal. The present vs future tagging table is flawed: the landuse column shows values that are rarely used. Industrial=water (500 uses) is in practice tagged as man_made=water_works (30k+ uses). "sewerage" land use exists and is in practice tagged as man_made=wastewater_plant (75k uses). I also don't like the ideat to put (drinking) water and sewage in one category ("water"). More Generally, I don't like proposals of "wiki gardening" that result in mappers being confronted with lists of "deprecation" warnings every time they upload changesets that regard completely unrelated features. Maybe I am atypical as I often map road features of interest to cyclists, which means that I am downloading a lot of data that re unrelated to my actual editing interest, and I notice a steady increase of deprecation warnings. 100k changes is a lot of work. --voschix (talk) 20:36, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
Hello Volker, did you read my answer on @tagging? This proposal won't make water and sewerage in one family water. Could you check it please? Fanfouer (talk) 22:15, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
Did you read too fast the proposal? Even the first lines of the proposal propose to get rid of the ambiguous "street_cabinet=water, street_cabinet=water_management" by adding of utility=water or utility=sewerage. --Nospam2005 (talk) 10:29, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Nospam2005 (talk) 10:29, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. I think the approach of standardizing tagging is good and I support the proposal for infrastructures. But I have a problem using utitlity on area definitions. I know industrial is a big construction site and doesn't clearly define what it is meant to describe as it includes both areas and facilities. At least for the areas, utility is no substitute for industrial for me and I would stick with landuse=industrial + industrial=* there. This has good logic to me (like landuse=residential + residential=*). I see it similarly with building=service + service=*. --Chris2map (talk) 12:55, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
This proposal won't prevent to go on with landuse=industrial + industrial=*. It only converts industrial=gas to utility=gas as it refers to utility and will actually reinforce any other suitable industrial=* value to be used with it. Fanfouer (talk) 13:01, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
That didn't become clear to me when reading the text and the discussion. I have now seen the sentence #Tagging "...landuse=industrial tagging aren't changed". If so, I support the proposal and change my vote to yes. Perhaps this will offer the opportunity to get a little more clarity in industrial, since a few values that do not fit area definitions can be described using utility. --Chris2map (talk) 13:22, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Renecha (talk) 23:08, 19 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. Thanks for this well documented and discussed proposal. While it adds some duplication for e.g. power=*, I get the point that it is useful to have all utilities under a common key and room for cases where the actual function is unknown. --Skyper (talk) 13:31, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --AnakinNN (talk) 15:50, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I oppose this proposal I oppose this proposal. There is no way I will be subjected to osmosis alerts to correct deprecated tags. As long as a mechanical edition is not planned, I will always vote against this kind of proposal. I do not serve the radicals of the attribute model, sorry François --Deuzeffe (talk) 07:19, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Kjon (talk) 12:46, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. utility perfectly fills a gap that I have been regularly confronted with as well. Naming/structure seem to work out well to me. However, I disagree with the unnecessary of street_cabinet=utility. I would recommend using it, otherwise there will be an, in my opinion, unfortunate gap beside non-utility values like street_cabinet=postal_service or street_cabinet=traffic_control. --Supaplex030 (talk) 15:10, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I oppose this proposal I oppose this proposal. This proposal changes very popular tagging without a transition plan that includes contacting existing data consumers and defined time frames for transitioning (and it doesn't actually make clear who will do that work). It further does not make a case why the minuscule gains outweigh the disruption and work it will cause. SimonPoole (talk) 12:02, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --EneaSuper (talk) 12:21, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I oppose this proposal I oppose this proposal. not convinced this is sooo necessary for well-used tags, introduced not that long ago.--JB (talk) 13:57, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Nw520 (talk) 10:18, 23 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Reino Baptista (talk) 10:53, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. despite some reservations with deprecating industrial=gas (which may be eventually repurposed for industrial gas facilities such as Linde/BASF/Messer). Duja (talk) 13:19, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
  • I approve this proposal I approve this proposal. --Gendy54 (talk) 18:32, 26 January 2023 (UTC)