GeoDesk is a fast and storage-efficient geospatial database for OpenStreetMap data. Also available for C++ and for Java.

Why GeoDesk?

• Small storage footprint — GeoDesk's GOL files are only 20% to 50% larger than the original OSM data in PBF format — that's less than a tenth of the storage consumed by a traditional SQL-based database.

• Fast queries — typically 50 times faster than SQL.

• Fast to get started — Converting .osm.pbf data to a GOL is 20 times faster than an import into an SQL database. Alternatively, download pre-made data tiles for just the regions you need and automatically assemble them into a GOL.

• Intuitive API — No need for object-relational mapping; GeoDesk queries return Python objects. Quickly discover tags, way-nodes and relation members. Get a feature's geometry, measure its length/area.

• Proper handling of relations — (Traditional geospatial databases deal with geometric shapes and require workarounds to support this unique and powerful aspect of OSM data.)

• Seamless integration with Shapely for advanced geometric operations, such as buffer, union, simplify, convex and concave hulls, Voronoi diagrams, and much more.

• Modest hardware requirements — If it can run 64-bit Python, it'll run GeoDesk.

Get Started

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or above
• Java 16 or above (for the GOL Tool)

Download

pip install geodesk

Create a GOL

Create a Geographic Object Library based on any .osm.pbf file, using the GOL Tool (Requires Java 16+).

For example:

gol build switzerland switzerland-latest.osm.pbf

Example Application

Find all the pubs in Zurich (Switzerland) and print their names:

from geodesk import *

# Open switzerland.gol
features = Features("switzerland")      

# Get the feature that represents the area of the city of Zurich
zurich = features("a[boundary=adminstrative][admin_level=8][name:en=Zurich]").one

# Define a set that contains nodes and areas that are pubs
pubs = features("na[amenity=pub]")

# Iterate through the pubs that are contained in the area of Zurich
# and print their names
for pub in pubs.within(zurich):
    print(pub.name)        

More Examples

Find all movie theaters within 500 meters from a given point:

movieTheaters = features("na[amenity=cinema]").around(
    meters=500, lat=47.37, lon=8.54)

Remember, OSM uses British English for its terminology.

Discover the bus routes that traverse a given street:

for route in street.parents("[route=bus]")):
    print(f"- {route.ref} from {route.from} to {route.to}")

Count the number of entrances of a building:

number_of_entrances = building.nodes("[entrance]").count

Documentation

GeoDesk Developer's Guide

Related Repositories

• geodesk — GeoDesk for Java
• libgeodesk — GeoDesk for C++
• gol-tool — command-line utility for building, maintaining and querying GOL files