Collaborative mapping of beach access with OpenStreetMap (Full version)

COLLABORATIVE MAPPING OF BEACH ACCESS WITH OPENSTREETMAP (FULL VERSION) Raquel Dezidério Souto1 Abstract. This chapter provides a scheme for labeling features related to beach access, using the OpenStreetMap (OSM), a digital cartographic database, maintained by a 21 years old global collaborative mapping project. This same scheme was presented at the "II Beach Access Network Workshop: public access to beaches: conflicts and management", held in Rio de Janeiro City (Brazil) in August 18 to 20th, 2025, and improved in this publication. The author expected to assist in mapping beach access in Brazil and other countries and show the advantages and constrains in the adoption of this solution for mapping these areas of interest. Keywords: Beach access; OpenStreetMap; Collaborative mapping; VGI; point of interest. INTRODUCTION The collaborative mapping gained significant importance with the advent of the global OpenStreetMap project, which already has millions of users and billions of features mapped in its digital and online cartographic database. The project has a data model based on the Extended Markup Language (XML), which facilitates the organization and use of its data in a wide range of derivative applications, such as mobile device applications, location-based services, geoservices, data converters, routers, etc. (Souto et al., 2025). The project has been in existence for 21 years and has an active community of mappers on every continent in the world. The use of data provided by collaborative mapping contributes to the economy with more data being collected in less time and over larger areas. This is all made possible by its decentralized model, which relies on the activity of volunteers who 1President of the Virtual Institute for Sustainable Development - IVIDES.org. This is the full version of the chapter which will be published as an extended abstract, part of the Book "Public Access to Beaches: Management and Conflicts" in 2026, by the IVIDES Publishing (https://ivides.org/livros). Raquel Dezidério Souto contribute data from familiar locations. On the other hand, the quality of the data is not sufficient for its application in official systematic mapping, requiring the processing of the extracted data, a mapping stage known as validation. During validation, the geolocation of objects and the adequacy of attributes are verified. This collaborative mapping solution, considering its operational limitations (locations with poor Internet signal coverage, limited ability of certain people to use equipment and systems), has been successfully used to map features that are not mapped in official mapping efforts. The level of detail is high and the mapping of features at this scale is referred to as “micromapping”. Thus, it is possible to map roads, buildings, points of interest, among others, in detail. Access is among the attributes that is not captured by official mapping efforts and smaller-scale mapping, or by satellite image processing. In the OpenStreetMap project, it is possible to cover this topic with local mapping, distinguishing between a range of access types: public or private access, limited to consumers, with barriers and entrances, access by mode (pedestrians, bicycles, vehicles) etc., allowing for the detailing of attributes that are important in mapping beach access. Thus, this chapter aims to detail the use of OpenStreetMap in mapping beach access, since this is an important issue in the Brazilian context and the digital cartographic base provides the necessary resources for data recording and subsequent analysis. This tagging scheme was presented in the "II Beach Access Network Workshop: public access to beaches: conflicts and management", held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), in August 18 to 20, 2025, and improved in this study. RECENT OVERVIEW OF BEACH ACCESS IN BRAZIL Since 2021, two federal law projects have been pending that directly address beach access in Brazil. The Law Project no 2/2021, which Amends Law no 10,257, of July 10, 2001, – the City Statute, to ensure access to mountains, rock walls, beaches, rivers, waterfalls, caves, and other public natural sites of great scenic beauty or interest for public visitation (Brazil, 2021, n.p.)2. 2 From the original: "Altera a Lei nº 10.257, de 10 de julho de 2001, – Estatuto da Cidade, para assegurar o acesso a montanhas, paredes rochosas, praias, rios, cachoeiras, cavernas e outros sítios naturais públicos de grande beleza cênica ou interesse para a visitação pública." (Brasil, 2021, n.p.). 2 Collaborative mapping of beach access with OpenStreetMap (Full Version) And the Law Project no 4,444/2021, which “Creates the National Program for Efficient Management of Federal Real Estate Assets, amends Law no 9,636 of 1998, and makes other provisions”, providing for the creation of the “Special Zone for Tourist Use (ZEUT),” with the allocation of [...] 10% of the natural sandy beach area in each municipality, which may be subject to restricted access for unauthorized persons, with use limited to tourist developments such as hotels, private parks, clubs, marinas, or others authorized by the Ministry of Tourism, with the use of these areas for single-family properties being prohibited (Brazil, 2021, n.p.)3. This would be a change of direction, since in Brazil beaches are considered federal land (original: "Terreno de marinha") and common property of the Union. These spaces are already covered by Decree-Law no 9,760, of September 5, 1946 (Brazil, 1946), the Federal Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988 (Brazil, 1988a), and the National Coastal Management Plan (Brazil, 1988b). However, we have witnessed a series of irregularities in Brazil, with the closure of access, especially in privileged areas, such as the location of residential condominiums, resorts, clubs, marinas, and other private properties, which restrict public access to certain beaches (and other coastal localities) in the country. (Martins, 2019; Condomínio [...], 2024; Léon, 2024; Carvalho, 2023; Portão [...], 2019). Specifically regarding the illegal closure of access by private condominiums, in 2019, a decision (the Acórdão 5021298-54.2014.4.04.7200) was published by the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) (Brazil, 2019), which deals with a public civil action related to the guarantee of access to the Figueira beach, located in the Municipality of Governador Celso Ramos (State of Santa Catarina). The unanimous decision determined the nullity of the environmental and subdivision licenses granted by the Santa Catarina State Environmental Foundation (in portuguese, FATMA) and the Municipality of Governador Celso Ramos, as well as ordering the defendants to clear access to the beach and demolish all constructions built in beaches and other coastal areas. 3 Original: "[...] 10% da faixa de areia natural de cada município, que poderá perceber restrição de acesso a pessoas não autorizadas, limitado o uso a empreendimentos turísticos como hotéis, parques privados, clubes, marinas ou outras que sejam autorizadas pelo Ministério do Turismo, sendo vedada a destinação dessas áreas a propriedades de uso unifamiliar." (Brasil, 2021, n.p.). 3 Raquel Dezidério Souto Given the constraints involved in accessing beaches and the imminent publication of new federal laws aimed at regulating this, it is necessary to be aware of the existing access points in the country, considering that beaches are places for public use and where many social, economic and religious activities take place. MAPPING BEACH ACCESS WITH OPENSTREETMAP The OpenStreetMap is a global collaborative mapping project that maintains a digital cartographic database, since 2004. The main features of the project are: The project records and distributes geographic data from around the world; The collaborative data is globally contributed on-line by individuals and organizations; It can be accessed by anyone and edited by those who create a free user account; It runs under an open license – Open Data Commons Open Database License (OdbL), which means that the data can be used by third parties, with the condition of to do attribution (© OpenStreetMap contributors) and to keep data open; It is independent of hardware or software; It operates with simple features (as point, line and polygon) or complex features (as multipoints, polylines and multipolygons); The attributes of mapped features are stored as tags, and the OpenStreetMap model has an extensive set of them, covering many topics (OpenStreetMap [...], [2025]). Tags are composed of key=value pairs (according to the XML model) and some of them are important in the context of the beach access mapping (Box 1). 4 Collaborative mapping of beach access with OpenStreetMap (Full Version) Box 1. Tags related to the beach access in the OpenStreetMap tagging model Theme key=value Description Highway highway=residential Way in residential areas. highway=pedestrian Way to mainly/exclusively access for pedestrian in shopping or residential areas. highway=footway For designated footpaths, mainly/exclusively for pedestrians. This includes walking tracks and gravel paths. highway=sidewalk Part of a highway set aside for the exclusive use of pedestrians and sometimes cyclists too. highway=path To describe small pathways (where a vehicle cannot pass). highway=service To describe a way to a specific property. highway=steps To describe flights of steps. highway=living_street Residential streets where pedestrians have legal priority over cars, speeds are kept very low. highway=cycleway For designated cycle ways. Kind of the surface surface=* To describe the physical surface of roads, footpaths and other surface features, particularly regarding material composition and structure. The values to (*) can be: paved | unpaved | asphalt | concrete | paving_stones | sett | cobblestone | metal | wood | compacted | fine_gravel | gravel | pebblestone | plastic | grass_paver | grass | dirt | earth | mud | sand | ground. smoothness=* Specifies the physical usability of a way for wheeled vehicles due to surface regularity/flatness. The values to (*) can be: excellent | good | intermediate | bad | very_bad | horrible | very_horrible | impassable. Restrictions and accesses barrier=* To specify types of barriers. The values of (*) can be: entrance | gate | yes | block | cable_barrier | wall | fence |cycle_barrier | motorcycle_barrier | lift_gate. access=* Used in conjugation to barrier=* to specify the kind of access. The (*) can be: public | private | yes | no. wheelchair=* Used in conjugation with barrier=* to specify if provides access to wheechair or not. The values of (*) can be: yes | no | limited. locked=* Used to mark a gate, barrier or other feature as locked or not. The values to (*) can be: yes | no. open=* This applies to objects such as gates (e.g. barrier=gate) and the value of (*) can be: yes | no | partial | full. Organized by the author with information of the OpenStreetMap tagging model. Source: Wiki OSM Map Features (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_features). 5 Raquel Dezidério Souto THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SCALE AND THE GEOVIEWER Depending on the scale observed and the adopted geoviewer, accesses and restrictions are showed in different ways, which can lead to misunderstandings. Boxes 2 to 11 provide examples with some common tags: highway=residential, highway=service, access=private, barrier=gate, and access=no. Boxes 2 and 3 show that the types of highways (residential and service) are not visible on the rendered map (https://osm.org), but can be easily identified on the map with the green and red marks. This is possible by consulting the overpass turbo (https://overpass-turbo.eu/), which allows you to structure queries with OSM data. Box 2. Some tags related to the beach access mapped with OpenStreetMap - Types of highway Enseada de Manguinhos (Búzios, Brazil) Top: map viewed in the rendered map (https://osm.org). Bottom: map viewed in the overpass turbo (https://overpass-turbo.eu) filtering tags highway=residential (green), highway=service (red). Organized by the author. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. 6 Collaborative mapping of beach access with OpenStreetMap (Full Version) Box 3. Some tags related to the beach access mapped with OpenStreetMap - Types of highway Ipanema beach (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Top: map viewed in the rendered map (https://osm.org). Botton: map viewed in the overpass turbo (https://overpass-turbo.eu) filtering tags highway=residential (green), highway=service (red). Organized by the author. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. The verification of the access can identify private accesses (access=private) (Boxes 4 and 5) and restrict accesses by gates presence (barrier=gate) (Boxes 6 and 7), since even a residential road may have restricted public access and physical barriers, with gates being the most common barrier, but also including fences (barrier=fence), walls (barrier=wall), and specific for bicycles (barrier=cycle_barrier) and motorcycles (barrier=motorcycle_barrier). 7 Raquel Dezidério Souto Box 4. Some tags related to the beach access mapped with OpenStreetMap - Private access Enseada de Manguinhos (Búzios, Brazil) Top: map viewed in the rendered map (https://osm.org). Bottom: map viewed in the overpass turbo (https://overpass-turbo.eu) filtering tag access=private (red). All the features are related to the access to buildings and condominiums. Organized by the author. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. 8 Collaborative mapping of beach access with OpenStreetMap (Full Version) Box 5. Some tags related to the beach access mapped with OpenStreetMap - Private access Ipanema beach (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Top: map viewed in the rendered map (https://osm.org). Bottom: map viewed in the overpass turbo (https://overpass-turbo.eu) filtering tag access=private (red). All the features are related to the access to buildings and condominiums. Organized by the author. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. 9 Raquel Dezidério Souto CONCLUSION The OpenStreetMap has a robust data model that allows for the mapping of features related to beach access, but all the cases presented in this study demonstrate that the mapping and evaluation of beach access must be carried out carefully so as not to lead to mistaken conclusions that do not correspond to reality. Thus, the zoom level and the correct application of labels must be observed, as well as the positional accuracy of these points (nodes) and lines (ways) often mapped with mobile devices or based on satellite images, which are not accurate enough to guarantee geopositional accuracy. Despite these and other limitations (such as poor access to the Internet or unfamiliarity with the use of computer equipment and systems), the cartographic database has served well as a support for mapping these features that are directly related to beach access. In addition, its collaborative and global nature allows for mapping a larger area in less time and at reduced costs. The openness of the data represents an additional advantage, as it allows its use by a wide range of applications and for the development of derivative products, such as access maps, coastal monitoring systems, land use plans, etc. Finally, the application of the collaborative mapping can promote the identification of mappers with the localities, enhancing the value of the beach space and promoting citizen science, since these people can generate crowdsourced data, based on their local spatial knowledge. With the publication of this chapter, we hope to encourage the adoption of collaborative mapping of beach access monitoring, showing also its advantages and limitations to a wider audience that may be interested in this topic. 16 Collaborative mapping of beach access with OpenStreetMap (Full Version) REFERENCES BRASIL. Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil: constitutional text enacted on October 5th, 1988a. 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This is the full version of the chapter which will be published as an extended abstract in the Book "Public Access to Beaches: Management and Conflicts" in 2026, by the IVIDES Publishing (https://ivides.org/livros). Contact: [email protected]. Disclaimer This text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives 4.0 International. Text of the license 18