An update from Germany as we hear about a couple of new OSM Web map services. These are based on research results in cartography of some researchers
from the GIScience Research Group at Heidelberg University (http://giscience.uni-hd.de ).
The first one deals with automated high quality map labeling (Text
positioning) and is being introduced here: It presents a new and sophisticated approach for calculating the placement of map labels using a multi-criteria method. See more at http://www.openmapsurfer.uni-hd.de/
The second one uses a new method to determine the scale to which the
underling OpenStreetMap data corresonds to and presents the resulting
scale equivalencies for residential areas in OSM.
This is a important new information for the usablity of OSM data, as
previously the scale range of an OSM dataset was unknown. See more info HERE and see the web service HERE