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<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">2194-9034</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/isprs-archives-L-4-W1-2026-251-2026</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Global Contributors, Local Maps: The Story of OpenStreetMap in a Small Town</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Quinn</surname>
<given-names>Sterling D.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4900-8885</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Department of Geography, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, USA</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>29</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>L-4/W1-2026</volume>
<fpage>251</fpage>
<lpage>258</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Sterling D. Quinn</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/L-4-W1-2026/251/2026/isprs-archives-L-4-W1-2026-251-2026.html">This article is available from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/L-4-W1-2026/251/2026/isprs-archives-L-4-W1-2026-251-2026.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/L-4-W1-2026/251/2026/isprs-archives-L-4-W1-2026-251-2026.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/L-4-W1-2026/251/2026/isprs-archives-L-4-W1-2026-251-2026.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Digital platform capitalism depends on geographic data to connect users with nearby goods and services, thus playing a role in both representing and shaping commercial landscapes. OpenStreetMap (OSM) represents a vast and low-cost geographic data source for platform capitalism; however, OSM is crowdsourced and exhibits uneven development across space, especially in rural areas. OSM researchers have observed that the map is built by a mix of local and remote volunteers, as well as corporate editors paid to identify and fill data gaps; however, deeper place-based inquiries are needed in order to better understand the process by which OSM contributors grow the map and how fully their contributions are actually representing small towns and villages. I model such a case study by using the OSM history files, contributor profile pages, and the geographies of contributor interest to construct &amp;ldquo;the story of OpenStreetMap&amp;rdquo; in the small agricultural town of Othello, Washington, USA. In addition to identifying trends in local and corporate mapping activity, I evaluate the map&amp;rsquo;s completeness by performing a walking survey of Othello&amp;rsquo;s commercial areas and comparing the visible landscape with the town&amp;rsquo;s representation in OSM. At small scales, Othello appears data-rich due to contributors who have traced building footprints and road information; however, a substantial percentage of civic and commercial institutions are still missing from the map, especially small businesses. Platforms that use OSM to connect Othello&amp;rsquo;s residents with commodities or resources may be strengthening the position of national or global chain businesses at the expense of local commerce.</p>
</abstract>
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