Built Up Area

[Abhishek]

Hi All,

Wondering what do we use "Built Up Area" for ?

The aforesaid category can be used for demarcating the core settlement area within a "City/Town/Village".

Its ideal usage will be to highlight the visible difference between the political boundary and the actual areas of settlement.

Regards,

Abhishek

[D C]

@Abhishek

1) Are there guidelines as to how dense structures must be to qualify as "Built Up"?  In rural areas the middle of the community may have 4+ buildings per acre, but that gradually diminishes (2 per acre, 1 per acre, 2 acres per structure, and so on) until you reach farm level (or, in my area, vineyard level) with only 1 or 2 structures per square mile.  (Perhaps a more accurate definition would be the percentage of surface area covered with an impervious substance, like buildings and pavement.)  I ask this to be able to respond to a Google Reviewer if they disagree with my interpretation, and to create a common understanding among both editors and reviewers.  I know that there will always be a gray area when implementing this, just like most Map Maker features, but I'm trying to narrow down that gray area to a manageable amount.  

2) Should every "City/Town/Village" also have a "Built Up Area"?

3) Some communities in my area are unincorporated, which means that there is no legal boundary.  Yet these communities invariably have both a "City" boundary and a "Built Up Area" boundary.  Should the "City" boundary be deleted, since there is no legal city?

4) What is the difference in how a "City/Town/Village" displays and how a "Built Up Area" displays?  (I haven't noticed a difference; maybe I'm not looking closely enough.)  Is "Built Up Area" darker?

5) This is a broader request:  Could you find a way to separate boundaries, buildings, and points?  I ask this now because when I use "Find near this point" to select road segments and intersections to edit, the screen will sometimes slide several miles away to the center of a built up area.  (I know that I could use the browse layer instead, but this doesn't provide the same options.  Also, sometimes boundaries, buildings, and points get in each other's way.)

Thanks!

[IndianaRed]

Thanks for the insight. Are the geometries of Built Up Areas supposed to be editable by us?

I noticed I could edit the geometry for the small town of Fortville, IN, but not Fishers, IN. The Fishers built up area is full of holes, and has parts of it covering rural fields, and even a reservoir! (and not the surrounding houses I might add). The holes tend to correspond to the (used to be) unincorporated areas of the town. So it looks to me like a political boundary.

Oh, and Marion County (Indianapolis) is completely incorporated, so every square inch is covered by a "built up area" boundary including the rural fields.

For anyone, use Advanced Search and "Built Up Area" as a layer to highlight every boundary.

[Abhishek]

Hi D C and IndianaRed,


Firstly, you folks deserve a special thanks from me, personally! For being patient with my dormancy, while I was away :)


Coming to the specific questions:


@D C -
1) Yes, you're right that there are no rigid guidelines about the exact density of the structures to qualify as a Built Up Area. Quantifying based on percentage surface coverage might complicate this & would be difficult to generalize across the world. :-)
A: But yes, based on the satellite imagery, when you can identify the core settlement area within a City/Town/Village, feel free to mark it.
If you have any good or complex examples, please feel free to discuss or post back:-)

2) Should every "City/Town/Village" also have a "Built Up Area"?

A: While it's not mandatory, this category is specifically helpful when there is a stark difference in the area covered by a Village and the actual habitation area.

3) Some communities in my area are unincorporated, which means that there is no legal boundary. Yet these communities invariably have both a "City" boundary and a "Built Up Area" boundary. Should the "City" boundary be deleted, since there is no legal city?

A: Hmmm. While off the bat, deleting doesn't seem right - as the category of "City/Town/Village" helps in addressing places marked within it. Having said that, it'd be good to see some of these examples before taking a decision.



For the broader request, we acknowledge your concern:)



@ IndianaRed - Yes, you might come across such features which don't allow modification of geometry on Map Maker. While we're working .

Meanwhile, you can report a problem on maps.google.com about it.



Regards,

Abhishek

[Arnorian]

I have a problem with built up areas I edited in Serbia. For some settlements there was a very loose boundary that was not visible as a gray area in Google Maps. When I modify the boundary to be precise, my edit is approved, but doesn't show up on Google Maps either. Built up areas that I did from scratch show right away. What can I do? I want to do more of them, but if they don't show I don't see the point.