OS NGD Land Use

Introduction to the theme

The OS National Geographic Database (NGD) Land Use Theme contains features which are geographical representations of areas identified as having a specific purpose (such as schools, universities, and caravan parks), as well as information about access to such areas.

In comparison with existing OS data, the new OS NGD Land Use Theme data has been enriched with additional attribution, including the following:

• Geometry change metadata

• A Description attribute to provide a one-word or simple phrase description of the feature

• Hierarchical land use classification

OS NGD Land Use Theme data contains land use attribution that describes the human or economic activity taking place on areas of land (i.e. how areas of land are being used / their purpose). OS NGD Land Theme data contains land cover attribution that describes the physical and biological surface of the land.

Data structure

The OS NGD Land Use Theme is made up of the Land Use Features Collection, which in turn is comprised of Site, Site Access Location, and Site Routing Point Feature Types.

OS NGD Land Use Theme data structure diagram showing the theme name, collection name and feature type names.

Unique identifiers

Two unique identifiers are provided with each feature within the OS NGD Land Use Theme:

• OSID (Ordnance Survey Identifier): The primary identifier and unique key for this theme.

• TOID (Topographic Identifier): An additional secondary identifier which can aid further data linking. TOIDs are an optional attribute and therefore will not always be provided with every feature.

In addition to OSIDs and TOIDs, features in this theme also have the following unique identifiers assigned to them: Site features have primaryuprn (Primary Unique Property Reference Number); Site Access Location features have siteid (Site Identifier), routingpointid (Routing Point Identifier), and roadnodeid (Road Node Identifier); and Site Routing Point features have roadlinkid (Road Link Identifier). Definitions for these additional unique identifiers are available on the three feature type pages for this theme.

What are land use sites?

A land use site is a geographic representation of an area that can be identified as being used for a particular purpose, for example, a school, shopping centre, or private residence. These are captured by OS primarily through manual or automated interpretation from aerial imagery. Sites seek to define the extent of the activity, and while this may be similar to or the same as the ownership information provided by HM Land Registry (HMLR) or Registers of Scotland (RoS), it should not be regarded as representing ownership. Sites do not indicate the definitive or legal extent, but rather the extent of usage or function. Often, the line of a legal boundary will coincide with a physical feature, such as a wall or a fence, but it is important to remember that the legal boundary is not the same as the physical feature.