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People's Map Data

The People's Map is an exciting and innovative scheme to create a large scale (1:10 000) street level data set, initially for the British Isles, that is free of any third party copyright. It is also free of charge for private personal use, while modest charges for commercial and government users are clear and reasonable. It is the People's Map because not only can you easily make use of it, but you can also edit the existing content and add new content via the web site. So no more complaining about a map being inaccurate, just login and make whatever changes you think are needed. However, you could of course add not just accidental errors, but also things that were deliberately wrong, which is why our team of cartographers will verify your data. You can see this on the web site as your changes will be almost immediately shown in the unverified map, and will (hopefully!) migrate into the verified People's Map within a few weeks. It isn't just the public, though, as there is also a large team at the People's Map partner companies (The XYZ Digital Map Company, Getmapping Plc and GeoSense Ltd) who are constantly adding to and improving the data.

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For the users this gives you confidence that we are benefitting from the expert local knowledge of the public, while ensuring basic cartographic standards and accuracy. After all, you need the confidence that a product such as a road atlas made from the People's Map will get you to the correct destination by a reasonably direct route.

There are a number of different subsets for the People's Map data as follows:

People's OverView 1:1 million Scale Data

The People's Overview Data for the British Isles - until 2007 known as the XYZ British Isles data set - (which is also a regional section from the 1:1 million scale XYZ World - European vector dataset) - was first released in 2003. Since then the British Isles data has been extensively updated, and since 2007 has formed the original core of the People's Map. For its 2009 release all of the towns have now been precisely positioned using Getmapping air photography, coded by size and attributed with their population if available. All of the coastline has been upgraded to either full 1:10 000 detail or at least 1:200 000 scale precision, a large part of the admin boundaries have been repositioned to within 10 metres or so on the imagery, all lochs have been aligned to the imagery, most railways have been revised, and a large section of the roads have been improved. This process is continuing apace as can be seen from time to time on the People's Map site.

The data is available as a vector data set, for example for MapInfo or ArcView / ArcGIS, and as a matching raster image (see picture below).

British Isles Map Sample

The principal benefits of the People's Overview data set are:

  • It comes in multiple formats and when purchasing the entire dataset, MapInfo workspace or ArcGIS project files are included to allow you to open and display the data easily.
  • It is fully attributed and indexed to allow quick and easy searching.
  • It contains a wealth of useful content to provide a background map for a great many tasks, such as mapping your sales performance, defining territories, etc.
  • There are both vector and raster versions of the People's Overview data.
  • It is highly cost effective - there are no annual fees or royalties for normal users.
  • It is regularly updated - you choose if and when to get a new version for a third of the then list price.
  • Although originally based on the Digital Chart of the World, months, and indeed years have been spent updating and improving the data.
  • We are gradually bringing the map data into alignment with the latest remote sensing ../../images. In the areas we have done so far (all in England) the positionally accuracy is around +/- 10 metres.
  • The data integrates with the XYZ Postcode Area, District and Sector map layers.
  • Optional extra layers include Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).
  • You can purchase a publication licence for world-wide rights enabling you to produce maps for sale
  • Vector_Data
  • The People's Overview vector data for the British Isles showing enhanced coastal & rail detail.

 

The People's Overview (1:1 million) Database uses the following layer structure:

Layer Name Feature Type Content
Towns Points Capital cities, and five other classes based on population. Attributed with population where available.
Road Lines The road network in a fully topological form. Motorways, Primary, A Roads, B Roads, Unclassified and private.
Railways Lines All railway lines including freight and preserved routes.
Built-up Polygons Shapes for the principal towns and conurbations.
Drainage Lines  Rivers and canals, including all navigable canals as recognised by British Waterways.
Lochs Polygons Permanent, impermanent and salt lakes.
Admin Polygons Country regions, unitary, county and borough boundaries.
Admin Lines Lines International, state, unitary, county, borough and disputed boundaries.
Symbols Points Airports, mountains, lighthouses, etc.
Contours Polygons Contour polygons with an interval of 100 metres based on a 90 metre interval lattice with +/- 5 metre vertical accuracy.
Physical Names Points + Lines Physical feature points and lines.
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