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

Important

For Version 2.0, you will need to build GOLs with GOL Tool 2.0.

To read GOLs built with GOL Tool 1.x, use Version 1.3.0 of this toolkit.

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
• GOL Tool 2.0

Download

pip install geodesk

Create a GOL

Create a Geographic Object Library based on any .osm.pbf file, using the GOL Tool.

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++
• geodesk-gol — command-line utility for building, maintaining and querying GOL files
• gol-tool — legacy GOL Tool (supports GOL 1.0 files)