In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and was eventually killed by Theseus. Daedalus had made the Labyrinth so cunningly that he himself could barely escape it after he built it. Sounds familiar doesn't it?
If Panama is to move forward into the next 10 years as the Singapore of Latin America it needs to make some changes in it signage and addresses. The old way of giving directions by number of blocks past the bridge or big tree in the park won't cut it. All of these new high rises, the Cinta Costero and the coming metro would make one believe that Panama is heading towards being a first class city, but with the antiquated or non-existent system of addresses and directions it will only be a first class city in its advertising.
From La Prensa
The labyrinth called Panama City
Change the meaning of the streets, the nomenclature does not have a numerical sequence and rename it floods every five years.
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| ADDRESSES. Both local and foreign are easily lost in the floods. PRESS / File1473923 |
Edith Castillo Duarte
[email protected]
Manuel Ferreira, director of Economic Studies of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama, decided to withdraw from traditional speeches and talk about a problem that deducts points to Panama as a city of business and tourism.
In a recent forum organized by the Chamber of Commerce and the builders could not ignore the headache it poses to foreign investors navigate the city.
Attracted by the growth of approximately 6% in the first half of this year and are tax incentives and opportunities for wealth. But paradoxically, find themselves with a little friendly city where you can not move without major problems.
Every now and then rename it streets, often depending on the political affinities of the government. And besides, as noted architect and urban planner Andrión Rodrigo Mejia, while in European cities and in other parts of the world draws a classification with a numerical sequence, in Panama insists on using names.
Citadina culture is giving directions by reference to places close to the address you are looking for, and among traders, town planners and builders there is some concern about this situation, although long-standing may aggravate in the coming years.
There is talk of major infrastructure investments, a meter will cost thousand $ 500 million and which aims to change the way you move in the capital, however, nobody has said what the plan is to sort the names of the streets in the great "reorganization" of the city.
The municipality is the entity that should be responsible for all matters relating to signs, addresses or classifications, but the city engineer of the capital's mayor, Juan Manuel Vasquez, warns that no budget for hiring staff engaged in these duties.
"The nomenclature is as important as the other projects we have in the direction of Works, and we have not put aside, but we are addressing the urgency of the patient to heal after the wounds," he says.
In his view, the first thing to do is to order a plane to the streets to give the proper consistency. Subsequently, and with the help of other entities, enter the correct road signs, but will undergo changes as the city "does not seem right to invest resources in this time ... That are obviously both employers and Vasquez contends that a good date to start with this work is 2012. Although ink and no paper work schedule.
In the annual ranking conducted by the magazine América Economía, Panama came this year as the seventh best city for business.
According to the annual survey conducted by the magazine to a 37 cities in Latin America, the country recovered in 2010, having been in position 11 in 2009.
In interviews with foreign executives said Panama's strategic location and its facilities in infrastructure that allow easy and quick access to all locations in Latin America.
The advantages are worthy, well-earned, and no reason to ignore, but is unusual in a small town like ours, every day more often used a GPS to get to a place located a few blocks away.
A GPS for tourists
The Tourism Authority of Panama working on a program that will develop and implement interactive maps global positioning system (GPS) that includes the addresses of hotels, restaurants and tourist sites in the country.
The project could be completed within two years and have two phases. The first would be to create interactive maps that might be found on the Internet, while the second step would include the updated system with GPS directions in tourism offered by the rental car at the Tocumen International Airport. In the country there are several companies that sell GPS service and say business is growing.
The advantage of this system in a city like Panama is that makes locations with street names in existence, crossing intersections and streets, and if one seeks a point of particular interest.
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