Tuesday, July 06, 2021

Natural Language Map Queries

NLMaps Web is a new tool for querying OpenStreetMap with natural language questions, such as "How many doctors are within 1,609 metres of Wallingford, Seattle?". In NLMaps Web natural language questions posed by users are first parsed into a custom query language, this custom query language is then used to retrieve an answer from OpenStreetMap data using Nominatim and Overpass.

I discovered NLMaps Web this weekend through OSM Weekly. Yesterday, when writing about 15 Minute Cities maps I began thinking about how NLMaps Web could be used to find facilities and amenities which are available within a 15 minute walk of a location. For example I created the map above by querying how many shops, bus stops, parks and schools can be found in a one mile radius around Wallingford, Seattle.

As it turns out Wallingford in Seattle seems to have very good access to many amenities and facilities, so it probably qualifies as a decent '15 minute city' neighborhood.For interest to get the counts for the Seattle map above I typed the following queries into NL Maps Web:

"How many parks within 1609 metres of Wallingford, Seattle?"
"How many shops within 1609 metres of Wallingford, Seattle?"
"How many schools within 1609 metres of Wallingford, Seattle?"
"How many doctors within 1609 metres of Wallingford, Seattle?"
"How many bus stops within 1609 metres of Wallingford, Seattle?"

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