Tag:landuse=village_green
 landuse = village_green
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A village green is a distinctive area of grassy public land in a village centre. Not a generic tag for urban greenery. 
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| Group: landuse |
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Status: de facto
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The tag landuse=village_green is used to map a 
Village green: a distinctive area of grassy public land in a village centre. It's an area of common land, usually grass but often including flowers, shrubs, small trees and a pond, located in the centre of a village (quintessentially English - defined separately from 'common land' under the Commons Registration Act 1965 and the Commons Act 2006). This model was brought to New England, where areas with identical areas were fixtures of both large cities and rural villages.
The purpose of a village green is to provide a place for the community to gather, relax, and engage in leisure activities. It may be used for events such as picnics, concerts, or sporting events.
Spain
In Spain the tag has been used consensually to map Paseos: often rather different in appearance to English village greens, but sharing the functional purpose of a common shared space for inhabitants and their activities.
Germany
The German page compares such spaces with the (de) Dorfanger in the East and with the (de) Brink in the Northwest of Central Europa.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands landuse=village_green is called a Brink. The original purpose of a brink was to gather livestock so that they could be moved to meadows. Today the function has shifted towards a communal square.
Many brinks consist out of grass and trees and include small areas of pavement. Some however have been paved entirely.
This tag is constantly used; however, many brinks remain unmapped.
Estonia
In Estonia landuse=village_green is called külaplats (village square) and it typically may include some or all of the following features:
- amenity=stage (named laululava or kõlakoda) - usually covered stage for performers
- amenity=festival_grounds (named lauluväljak) - wider area around the stage, that usually is not covered and includes area for dancing and seating
- leisure=village_swing - very big swing for adults
- leisure=firepit - for festivities that include big bonfires (for example Jaanipäev or St John's Day), as of 2023/05 there is no subtag to differentiate it from typical campsite fire pit
- leisure=pitch - for selected sports (typically one basketball hoop or miniature soccer goal)
- area for seating
- amenity=parking area for parking
- amenity=toilets
Because of festivals where big bonfires are lit, village greens in Estonia are often located near lake, pond, river or seashore and wherever possible slightly away from housing. In South Estonia small building=chapel (tsässon or eukterion) is often located nearby the same village green.
Similar tags
- landuse=recreation_ground - An area of general recreation that is not distinctly a park.
- landuse=grass - A smaller area of mown and managed grass
- leisure=park - A public park or recreational green space. In the UK, a village green is a legally recognised area of common land.
- natural=shrubbery - A small area of managed shrubs, often found in (sub)urban areas as decoration or barrier
How to map
There should only ever be one landuse=village_green for every village green. In contrary to its name not every part of a village green has to be green. What makes a village green is its purpose and function. Therefore, include all elements that help serve this function.
Incorrect use
This tag is often used in a different way which was not originally intended: rather than specifying a distinctive part of a village centre as described above, it has been used to map small areas of mixed vegetation (grass, flowers, shrubs and small trees), mostly in urban areas, very often maintained by the municipality. See the photos on the talk page for this type of use.
Such use of the tag is incorrect. More specific tagging for various types of vegetated areas is described at Vegetation.
Common tagging mistakes
See also
- Proposed features/village green - original tag proposal and vote (December 2006)