Talk:Tag:leisure=parklet

This tag seems quite dubious to me. Do I understand it correctly that exactly the same feature can be parklet or not depending on whether parking space existed there before? Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 11:08, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

A parklet is a specific type of street furniture, characterised by the fact that it is located on or next to the street (and cars may otherwise park there). I would say that without the connection to the street/(ex) parking space, this feature couldn't exist in a meaningful way. See also the description of parklets on Wikipedia.

Do you know of anything that you would call a “parklet” that is not located in the street space? Supaplex030 (talk) 15:32, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

My problem with leisure=parklet is that "parklet" seems to be about reclaiming/using space that was previously wasted or reserved for cars. Which is often a good idea as far as space planning in cities goes. But in OpenStreetMap it is quite problematic to decided what exactly qualifies. Wikipedia has "sidewalk extension that provides more space and amenities for people using the street. Usually parklets are installed on parking lanes and use several parking spaces" which covers - for example - basically all bicycle parkings, green space along carriageway etc. While use of this, as understand, is more for space that got reclaimed. And here it gets further trickier: lets say that some space got reclaimed in clear parklets, and then road was rebuilt and these become more permanent, not just spaces put on top of parking spaces. Is it still a parklet? Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 17:00, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

BTW, "sidewalk extension that provides more space and amenities for people using the street" definition is also fulfilled by parking spaces! Overall, it is horribly poorly defined as far as OSM POI goes and is more useful as campaigning term Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 17:03, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

After all, the term doesn't come from the OSM world. So I don't see any problem in mapping something that is called a parklet (or that anyone familiar with parklets would recognize as a parklet) as a parklet. And mapping something that isn't a parklet as whatever else it is (e.g., a bicycle stand or sidewalk extension). How else should we map them? In the end, it is a separate/specific category of street furniture imho (common in many cities around the world).

And if, after structural changes, they remain in place and lose all connection to a former street (which would be very unusual—normally, the street would continue to exist as a pedestrian road, for example), then they are simply a testament to the former use of the street. And if, after a generation, no one remembers that there used to be a street here (and a normal parklet would have long since exceeded its lifespan), then we as mappers can still ask ourselves how we should map a “wooden structure with seats” instead ;)

(The features that are part of a parklet or located on a parklet can of course also be mapped as separate features (benches, bicycle stands, trees, etc.).) Supaplex030 (talk) 19:51, 2 January 2026 (UTC)