Key:designation

designation

Description

The legal classification of an object, usually used on highway features.

Group: properties

Used on these elements

Documented values: 10

Useful combination

highway=*
access=*

Values per country

Because legal definitions vary from country to country, so do the values of this key, hence the values are presented separately for each country.

Australia

Path classification

designation=shared_path is used to map shared paths in combination with the usual access=* tags.
designation=shared_zone is used to map shared zones. highway=living_street is often used, however, for other shared zones such as driveways or parking isles, it is usually mapped as highway=service in combination with this designation tag.

Belgium

Municipalities and cities

In Belgium, some of the municipalities are legally assigned the status of city. The following tags are added to the administrative boundaries of such cities:

designation=stad (Dutch-speaking region)
designation=ville (French-speaking region)
designation=ville - stad (bilingual region of Brussels-Capital)
designation=Stadt (German-speaking region)

Other municipalities which are not cities instead get the following tags:

designation=gemeente (Dutch-speaking region)
designation=commune (French-speaking region)
designation=commune - gemeente (bilingual region of Brussels-Capital)
designation=Gemeinde (German-speaking region)

Philippines

Road Classifications

The following tags are used to record the legal classification of public roads in the Philippines.

designation=expressway
designation=national_primary_road
designation=national_secondary_road
designation=national_tertiary_road
designation=provincial_road
designation=city_road
designation=municipal_road
designation=barangay_road

Administrative Entities

Previously designation=* was also used to record the legal category of administrative entities in the Philippines.

This usage is now considered deprecated and admin_type:PH=* is recommended instead.

Netherlands

Administrative divisions

Main article: NL:Bestuurlijke indeling van Nederland

Various designation=* tags are used on administrative divisions to specify their legal classification, e.g.:

designation=deel van Nederland
designation=landsdeel
designation=veiligheidsregio
designation=arrondissement
designation=ressort
designation=waterschap
designation=Caribisch openbaar lichaam

United Kingdom

The majority of uses of this key (80.5% as of May 2021) are found in the United Kingdom, predominantly to tag public rights of way in England and Wales.

Public Rights of Way in England and Wales

Main article: Access provisions in the United Kingdom

The four types of public rights of way (PRoW) are given below. The designation=public_right_of_way tag is used by some mappers when the PRoW type is unknown.

This table is auto-generated. See Template:Taglist for a documentation on it.

Unmaintained Public Highways

In addition there are public highways ('i.e.', owned by the relevant local highway authority, which are not maintained). These are known by a variety of terms:

Unclassified County Road (UCR),
Unsealed, Unclassified County Road (UUCR),
or Other Routes with Public Access (ORPA).

Although these are (probably) public highways, whether motor vehicles are legally allowed is open to interpretation (and highway authorities differ on this). Even if motor vehicles are allowed, such use is often inadvisable. These highways will most usually be mapped as tracks. In some counties (Warwickshire, Lincolnshire) they are tagged designation=unclassified_county_road. In Lincolnshire some tracks are tagged designation=unmade_road: a term which is used in some access documents.

ALWAYS add known access rights for individual transport modes. It will usually be safe to assume foot=yes, horse=yes and bicycle=yes. Remember that evidence of use is not evidence of a legal right of access.

A useful overview can be found on the Trail Riders Fellowship's webpages. The background in how such highways of dubious status is covered in this document from Buckinghamshire County Council. See also Green lane (road)

Permissive Paths

Also taginfo shows a significant number of uses of:

designation=permissive_footpath
designation=permissive_bridleway

These tags should be used in combination with an appropriate highway=* tag, and appropriate access=* tags.

Commons

Land legally designated as common land can be tagged with designation=common.

Core paths in Scotland

Paths designated by local authorities as core paths can be tagged with designation=core_path.

UK Protected Areas

In the UK there are various levels of nature reserve and protected areas of countryside. It would seem natural to use the designation=* tag to record the precise type of area, in addition to a more generic tag such as leisure=nature_reserve or boundary=national_park. There are currently a handful of uses of the following tags for this purpose:

designation=national_park
designation=area_of_outstanding_natural_beauty (England and Wales)
designation=national_scenic_area (Scotland)
designation=national_nature_reserve
designation=local_nature_reserve
designation=site_of_special_scientific_interest
designation=access_land (England and Wales, via the Countryside and Rights of Way Act)

Civil parishes

Civil parish is a type of administrative district forming part of the local government structure. Tagged as designation=civil_parish.

Communities

Similar to civil parishes, but mostly in Wales. Tagged as designation=community.

Quiet lanes

Quiet lanes are legally defined roads where people should “drive slowly and carefully and be prepared to stop”. They can be tagged with designation=quiet_lane.

United States

Road classifications

This key is not widely used in the United States for official road classifications, in part because a given road may have multiple different designations depending on the authority. However, several designation-like keys are in very common use:

HFCS=* – FHWA Highway Functional Classification System
NHS=* – National Highway System and its subclassifications
hgv:national_network=* – National Network (for trucks)
hgv:state_network=* – extensions to the National Network corresponding to state truck regulations
fdot:sis=* – FDOT Strategic Intermodal System

In addition, expressway=* can sometimes correspond to a legal definition in some states, but it is primarily intended to reflect physical characteristics, potentially including specific signs.

When not to use

There are several circumstances where using designation=* may feel natural, but where there are already other established tagging practices. Often these relate to circumstances where the designation of an object isn't an official/legal one. Examples of when not to use designation=* would include:

Reference numbers, e.g. for roads, bridges, etc. Use ref=* instead.
The name of something. Use name=* instead.
The ordinary, non-legal description of something. Use description=* instead.
The sport played on a pitch or park. Use sport=* instead.
The religion or denomination of a place of worship, graveyard or other religious object. Use religion=* and/or denomination=* instead.

Status and use

Established. This tag is part of the guidelines for mapping public rights of way in England and Wales. It was formally proposed and rejected back in March 2011. Despite that, the tag is in widespread use. As of January 2016, Taginfo reported over 200000 uses of this key, most of which are for public_footpath.

Use the discussion page for further comments, and consult Taginfo's list for values commonly in use.

See Proposed_features/Highway_administrative_and_physical_descriptions for a proposed global way to store the legal classification of roads.

Key:designation

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