On Fri, Mar 7, 2014 at 7:36 PM, Derk-Jan Hartman <d.j.hartman+wmf_ml@gmail.com> wrote:

This is thinking way too simple. Would it be nice to be able to do this ? Sure, but we already have dynamic maps. WikiMiniAtlas, the german OSM map. Those even have area highlights these days. Can they be better ? sure, is that something difficult, is it really needed ? No not really x2. Wikipedians are much more focused on making static maps usually.

Refutation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interurban_and_streetcar_railways_in_Syracuse,_New_York

That map is utter crap, completely unusable for any kind of mobile usage, even if it were georeferenced.

Is it possible / useful to generate thematic renderings of OSM tiles? Sure, and they look really good, for example here: http://www.itoworld.com/map/15

My feeling is that Wikipedia has desperately needed a map generator, whether static or dynamic, for at least five years now. Yet something always comes between Wikipedia and OSM for some reason. I think it's because people keep saying that that's too easy! We need to do something better, something more complicated, something that's a real challenge. Well, if it's so simple, why doesn't every page with coordinates have a map?? Obviously, it's NOT that simple.