One of the curious experiences of our time in India was getting to places that have no street address. To drive to the home of one of the 2.5 million residents of Jodhpur required the name of their "colony" (subdivision), a landmark or two, and stopping to ask questions once one was in the general vicinity of the target. Important streets were named but most were not.
Now comes news that Garmin plans to introduce GPS navigation into India: http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/22144005/Garmin-Reliance-Retail-tie-up.html?h=B&sms_ss=email
Will this cause assignment of permanent street names and numbers into India's cities? I don't know but I certainly hope so. Mobile (cellular) phone technology has enabled India to bypass the enormous cost of investing in landline infrastructure. Use of mobile phones has contributed greatly to the flowering of small entrepreneurship in India. Similarly, I believe that reducing the human relationship factor in municipal navigation in favor of impersonal technology will boost economic development.
22 October 2009
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