Nodes, ways and relations at once (nwr)

OpenStreetMap stores features in three ways: a node is a single point, a way is a line or an outline, and a relation groups several elements, for example a multipolygon. A car park can be any of the three.

nwr searches all three at once, so nothing is missed.

The query

[out:json][timeout:25];
area["name"="Bern"]["admin_level"="8"]["wikidata"="Q70"]->.a;
nwr["amenity"="parking"](area.a);
out center;

Run it

Live result from overpass.ch, cached for up to 12 hours. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

How it works

1. Another place called Bern also has admin_level 8. ["wikidata"="Q70"] picks the Swiss capital.
2. nwr is short for the union of node, way and relation with the same filters.
3. out center; adds a center coordinate to ways and relations, so every result can be shown as a point.
4. Use out geom; instead if you want the full outlines.

Variations

• Count how the results are split by type in the result table below. In most cities the majority of car parks are ways (outlines).
• nw and wr work too, for nodes and ways or ways and relations only.

Run it from your code

curl https://api.overpass.ch/v1/YOUR_API_KEY/interpreter \
  --data-urlencode 'data@query.overpassql'

import requests

query = open("query.overpassql").read()
r = requests.post("https://api.overpass.ch/v1/YOUR_API_KEY/interpreter",
                  data={"data": query}, timeout=120)
r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json()["elements"][:3])

const res = await fetch("https://api.overpass.ch/v1/YOUR_API_KEY/interpreter", {
  method: "POST",
  body: new URLSearchParams({ data: query }),
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(await res.text());
console.log(await res.json());

Save the query as query.overpassql. It works the same in Overpass Turbo, QGIS and JOSM.