Pokémon Go OpenStreetMaps

On top of the S2 cell grid method, Pokémon Go also uses the OpenStreetMaps tags to update their game world. Niantic has not confirmed it, but the evidence gathered by the Pokémon Go community strongly suggest that OpenStreetMaps tags influence spawns. To be specific, they influence the frequency and the type of Pokémon.

Spawn
It has been observed that Pokémon spawn more frequently along paths. These paths can for example be in a forest, a park or next to a street. To mark a path, OpenStreetMaps uses points called nodes and it seems that between any two nodes on a path, there are at most 2 spawns, regardless of its size. So, the more a path has to curve the more spawns you will probably find. The specific tags for paths are:
 * highway=footpath
 * highway=path
 * highway=cycleway
 * highway=sidewalk
 * highway=footway
 * route=bicycle
 * route=hiking
 * route=foot

Nest
Nest is a spawn where specific species of Pokémon appear more frequently. They can show up in the following areas:

Do not need paths

 * leisure=park
 * leisure=garden
 * leisure=golf_course
 * leisure=recreation_ground
 * boundary=physiogeographical
 * landuse=grass

Need paths

 * landuse=farmland
 * landuse=farmyard
 * natural=scrub
 * natural=heath
 * landuse=meadow

Ingress Exotic Matter
Since Ingress and Pokémon Go are made by Niantic, it is not surprising to find out that both games use the same OpenStreetMaps. But it is interesting to know that even some of their game mechanics function similarly. Pokémon Go trainers have to find wild Pokémons and Ingress players have to find Exotic Matters(XM), which are also in the open world. As opposed to Pokémon, which only appear when you are in close proximity, XM always appear on the map. Some community members have speculated that the occurrences of both might have some correlation. If you can find one you could find the other. XM appear very frequently in the following places:
 * train/bus stations
 * around pedestrian street
 * shopping centres
 * sometimes around houses

How to contribute
You can create an account on www.openstreetmaps.org and start editing immediately. We recommend going through the tutorial and carefully read their wiki to use the appropriate tags.

(Although it may be very tempting to manipulate OSM tags to your advantage, we strongly advise against it. Please be tag responsibly. OpenStreetMap is a very important tool and it is not only used for Pokémon Go.) Pokémon_Go_OpenStreetMapsPokémon_Go_OpenStreetMaps