Where OpenStreetMap maps the world as it exists, OpenUrban maps the world as it could be. This session will look at how OpenUrban, a nonprofit, user generated web map and wiki focused on urban development, maps shared ambitions and ideas people have to make their communities the best possible places to live and work.

The built environment is changing at a tremendous scale and pace and it’s important that people understand these changes. People can’t respond to or develop informed opinions about things they don’t know exist. OpenUrban proposes pushing data on projects tagged as built directly from OpenUrban to OSM. This means that OSM’s data on buildings and infrastructure would be up to date within days or hours in cities where planners, architects, and activists are keeping close watch via OpenUrban.

This session will explore how location based data transitions from conceptual plan to concrete reality in different contexts (e.g. Istanbul v. Seattle v. New York). A major goal will be to open up a discussion on the necessary technical and logistical processes for making these data transformations.