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Published

town

vr.tr.town · thing-q3957

Let an agent handle towns by name, country, legal status, population and services, with official data.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems PHY.PLC
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Identity Which town.

Name

Place.

Name

Town identity.

  1. Which town, in which country and region? provenance
  2. Which identifier resolves it? provenance

Status

Legal status.

Status

Legal status.

  1. What legal status does it have? provenance
  2. How is a town defined in this country? definition
Population People.

Size

Population.

Size

Population.

  1. What is its population, according to which census? measurement
  2. For which year? provenance

Area

Boundaries.

Area

Area.

  1. What area does it cover? measurement
  2. Which boundary definition? definition
Services Local life.

Government

Council.

Government

Local government.

  1. Which authority governs it? provenance
  2. How can it be contacted? action

Transport

Connections.

Transport

Transport.

  1. How is the town connected by transport? definition
  2. Where is timetable information? provenance
History Heritage.

Origins

Founding.

Origins

Origins.

  1. How and when did the town develop? provenance
  2. Which sources document it? provenance

Heritage

Protected places.

Heritage

Heritage.

  1. Which buildings or areas are protected? provenance
  2. Is there a conservation area? provenance

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Physical world and living systems
Entry kind
thing
Plane
PHY
Domain
PHY.PLC
Other names and narrower kinds
Tribal town, cantonment town, town of Turkmenistan, town of Rus', resort town, town of Japan, country town, wooden town, mountain town, desert town, Akoko, Little Kyoto

What it is Filled

A human settlement larger than a village and smaller than a city, with its own name, local government or services; the legal meaning and size thresholds vary by country, and there are special forms such as resort and cantonment towns.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent handle towns by name, country, legal status, population and services, with official data.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Mid-sized settlement
  • Status defined by national law
  • Has local services
  • Distinct from village and city

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Apply one country's definition of a town to another as if it were universal.
  • Present outdated population or status data as current.
  • Describe a town's residents with stereotypes or stigma.
  • Publish personal data about residents gathered from local sources.

Only with a human decision

  • Representing a town or its council in official matters.

May

  • Report a town's population, status and services from official sources with dates.
  • Explain how the meaning of town differs between countries.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Status as a town can decide funding, services and identity for residents.
  • Local reputations travel; careless description can harm a community.

Who is affected

  • Residents
  • Local government
  • Visitors and businesses

Owners Filled

Steward

Its local government and residents; national authorities define settlement status.

Master systems

  • National statistical and gazetteer databases
  • Land registries

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q124250988 - registry parent class
  • Q7930989 - registry parent class

related

  • urban settlement - category
  • village and city - size
  • local government - administration
  • district and region - hierarchy

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.town
  • Wikidata: Q3957 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3957)
  • national place code: statistical code per country
  • GeoNames id: numeric id gazetteer

Direct properties required Filled

  • Land area: km2 - Measured from mapped boundaries, distinguishing the administrative territory from the built-up settlement.
  • Elevation: m - Measured relative to a stated vertical datum at a specified location within the town.
  • Built-up area: km2 - Measured from mapped buildings and developed land using a stated land-cover definition.

Recognition required Filled

  • Official town name and status
  • Population and area statistics
  • Legal town status differs by country
  • A cluster of homes, shops, services and streets around a centre.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • find location and population
  • contact local government
  • look up services and transport
  • research history

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Confusing places with the same name
  • Outdated population figures
  • Assuming status thresholds are universal

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • National settlement classification and local government law

Context of use required Filled

  • A place where people live, work and access services.
  • market towns
  • resort towns
  • industrial and mining towns
  • new towns
  • historic town types by country

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q3957: town - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: Town - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should town types be separate entries?
  • How should status definitions be recorded per country?
  • How should namesakes be disambiguated?

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q3957/spec.json