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A friend was promoted to chief. Those who had missed his promotion ceremony decided to visit him at his home in Babena, north of Thimphu, to celebrate the achievement. Not being able to find his house almost ruined the party.
The friends first had to find the home of a former minister, a five-a-side football field and a building with pink walls. The video call showed landmarks and vehicles along the way, helping them arrive on time.
It was Thursday and Thromde, Thimphu, had just launched the City Addressing System (CAS). They were not aware of the system. It should help.
CAS is a long-awaited development that makes it easier to navigate cities that are expanding at an unprecedented rate. If it lives up to its promise and makes finding places easier and more straightforward, it will be a welcome development.
Although this may be a new system in the capital, it is required in almost all cities around the world. It is very useful, for example, many Bhutanese abroad can start working as soon as they arrive abroad.
We are probably the only country that does not have this basic necessity.
Even today, finding a place to stay in the capital is a nightmare. If before that tall or “yellow” building was a landmark, today it is not. There are many tall and yellow buildings. The city has grown and landmarks have become irrelevant. We experienced this during the COVID-19 lockdown. With restrictions on movement and essential goods depending on the delivery of Dessoups, it was an eye-opener. It’s late, but as we say, better than nothing.
The system can be integrated with Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and Apple Maps. For this, we need precise details such as building number, street name, quadrant.
The success of CAS will depend on how updated and detailed the addresses are. Thromde still faces a difficult task. Details such as building and road names are still unclear.
It takes time for people to get used to this system. We need to know the names of roads, streets, building numbers, not “pink buildings” or tall trees or monuments to find locations.
It’s more about making the system reliable and getting people used to it. This is a good start.
It’s a little cumbersome, but it will be an improvement and the benefits are many. Talk to fast food restaurants today. They know how hard it is to deliver food to the right place on time. It will be more useful in emergency situations. If it can be combined with other services of thromde, it will simplify service delivery and reduce bureaucracy.
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