Here in the UK, it’s common to come across local spaces that are advertised as ‘warm spaces’. These are intended to be welcoming, heated indoor locations where people of all backgrounds are welcomed, and often hot drinks etc are available for free.
(links in codeblocks as the forum blocked me from posting more than three links at once as a new member)
I’ve done a small amount of research, but I can’t find any documentation or previous forum post on this topic. Is there an established standard for how to tag this, and if not, what would be the right way? I think it would make most sense as a tag on an existing map feature (library / community centre / church / cafe) rather than as a separate feature, but I’m very open to debate as a relatively inexperienced OSM mapper.
I would think amenity=social_facility could apply if these are standalone? Not sure though which property is suitable if you want to add it to an object that is already mapped (like libraries, churches, etc.). I am also not sure when to add it, do they have to encourage people to use the space for warming up, or is it sufficient when it is tolerated? Would we also want to tag the opposite, the operator being unwelcoming or actively shooing people away?
My first thought would be to adapt the tagging from the LGBTQ+ acceptance scheme, however, most of these places (at least around where I live) are part of some network operated by the city, some charity, whatever. So maybe it would make more sense to tag the network they’re part of?
I’m just brainstorming here, this is a very specific issue.
as the OP said these places were “advertised” as “warm spaces”, the network idea could seem right. On the other hand, a place may be part of several orthogonal networks in the OSM sense, should they be comma separated? Or should we use something like warm_space=yes (or more specific, like social:warm_space)?
Around me I think it’s more the case that individual community organisations decide to explicitly promote their property being a public ‘warm space’, or specifically offer that service during certain hours of the week. For instance, I know of a community centre which advertises a warm space one day a week, and a library which has explicitly said that it is available as a warm space to those in need. I think lists are collated by local authorities and non-profits like those I listed, but I don’t know of any networks that proactively set up warm spaces where I am at the moment.
While my anecdotal examples aren’t part of any specific network, I can see that it would be important to be able to document membership of a ‘network’ where applicable. What do you think?
Regarding the question about unwelcoming operators, I don’t really see that many cases where someone might want to record somewhere as a non-‘warm space’, as it’s a bit of a flowery definition anyway and I can’t see that many places actively advertising themselves in the other direction. With that said, I accept that there may be other cultures where it is more relevant. I also see that the LGBTQ+ acceptance scheme has a provision for places which explicitly do not serve LGBTQ+ people, so if that exists then perhaps it does make sense to make the same provision in case some location specifically outlaws vulnerable people who may be looking for a welcoming community space.
That’s pretty vague and meaningless. There seems to be some confusion on what they are from above mention of lgbtq= , and from start. “Warm Welcome” is a slightly different greater project (their use in providing heating didn’t seem obvious from the official website), or at least dual-purpose. The other websites aren’t really about “safe space”, or “welcoming” different people by socializing. Those are extra functions. Fundamentally, they are more accurately termed “warm bank” as a corollary to food banks. It’s a winter “shelter” for people to stay warm first and foremost. Then you can chat and have fun with others inside.
For comparison, there are winter shelters for street homeless to stay at night for protection against the cold. Both of these 2 functionalities are usually performed by a non-dedicated facility, eg ordinary =community_centre , =place_of_worship , etc.
Currently there are 30 community_centre=warm_hub | Tags | OpenStreetMap Taginfo , and 35 mention of “warm hub” in description=
That being said, I see social_facility as the main purpose, and =warm_bank more obvious and recognizable along =food_bank . Using social_facility= as a embedded functionality follows post_office= . Conflict with the community_centre= in =community_centre is avoided. Eg social_facility:network= can be used without mixing up with the network= of the feature. When it’s already a =social_faciluty , the social_facility= could be semicolon multival, although social_facility:network= would become awkward.
For reference, there doesn’t seem to be suitable prefixes. emergency:*= is for sudden unexpected disasters. There are some seasonal:*= mostly seasonal:winter= etc, not yet to indicate a feature.
I agree with @Kovoschiz. I would tag these primarily as amenity=social_facility + social_facility=warm_bank. (and lgbtq=welcome if that’s an advertised part of the welcoming atmosphere)
The term “warm bank” isn’t familiar or very intuitive to me as an American, but seems appropriate as it appears to be in-use in British English.
We have “warming centers” here, but they are more like emergency shelters for homeless people (amenity=social_facility + social_facility=shelter) that come online as needed for extra capacity during cold snaps.
Not to derail this discussion, but given that in warmer climates like Greece, the same space can explicitly function as a warm bank in winter, and a “cool bank” in the summer, how do you think this tagging would work out? semicolon values?
Much of the above still applies, they are often municipal spaves with other uses such as community centres, event halls etc, but with air conditioning to stay cool, usually active for the duration of heat waves.
These appear they usually don’t mention any particular demographics. Rather they emphasize everyone. So lgbtq= may not apply most of the time. You would really need to find a statement or sign in a particular one. To be explicit, there are 31 https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/social_facility:for=all social_facility=shelter could be discussed further. It seems to be described for providing more prolonged accommodation as long as it’s needed, as seen in the domestic violence, children or youth, and transitional shelters examples. The tern “homeless shelter” expresses such a meaning. Or at least, this is not specified.
Many shelters for sleeping through the cold or heat tend to be open on a per-night basis depending on the weather. Some open all winter regardless. They usually only open throughout the night. The topic here about warm banks is daytime, and looks temperature-independent. Maybe there are a few opening all day, serving as both.
On the other hand, while temperate climates can have their “cooling centers” open daytime only, such facilities can open overnight to all-day in more tropical countries. Considering the above, we can think about whether the service period and criteria need to be characterized explicitly.
maybe these could be seen as a subtype of amenity=shelter? The wiki says it is for “A small structure for protection against bad weather conditions”, not sure if hot weather can be considered “bad”? Also not sure why it has to be “small”?
Unfortunately, there’s not an obvious term to cover both of them. For “warming centers” nighttime shelters, I see “seasonal shelter”. “Weather shelter” when used as an editing label may resemble shelter_type=weather_shelter too much, and need more explanation.
For a practical reason, the standard shelter= now suggests there’s a amenity=shelter , not that something else functions as a amenity=shelter . amenity=shelter is usually somewhere you go incidentally when visiting or walking past somewhere. social_facility=shelter and these are where you seek out and go purposefully in your daily life.
Because amenity=shelter has been used for things like bus stop shelters and park gazebos, which are quite different from an overnight / overday shelter that are usually in fully enclosed buildings and might house dozens or hundreds of people
Mammi71
(One feature, Six mappers and still More ways to map it)
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is not actually talking about overnight/overday shelters, but about places where you can warm up. I see a significant difference here.
