Naming
Unique naming is very important to find a specific address and to improve the end user navigation experience. In Pakistan, we have an additional aspect to consider while naming a city or street which is the dual language system. We are using Urdu (English) as well as Roman Urdu as our language of communication; Urdu (English) is mainly for online tasks whereas Roman Urdu (our National language) is used to communicate among people. The layman (as well as others) is using mainly Roman Urdu (Roman Urdu written with Roman/Urdu alphabets) to communicate while using different communication channels e.g., Mobile SMS, Internet etc. Roman Urdu alphabets are also in use, though it seems difficult to type. One thing is sure that we humans are more comfortable in our native/national language than in Urdu (English) (or any other foreign language) and using Roman Urdu in Naming would increase the outreach of Waze; the end user would see the map in his/her native/national language and would have more tendency to accept it and use it frequently. Hence, language factor must be considered to name a city and street etc.
In Pakistan, we don’t have unique names for each and every street; we have sometimes the street numbers and sometimes names and sometimes we don’t have any name at all for the streets. We are using sectors/ blocks/ community or colony names to find those streets, in our real life. Hence, the sectors/blocks/community/colony factor should also be considered while naming.
Pakistan Team has discussed the naming system for cities to be used and have determined to use Roman Urdu names as the main names and Urdu (English) names as the alternative names. The alternate naming will not create city smudges as long as they aren't both listed on primary names anywhere. Street names as of right now should be left in Urdu (English).
Example:
- City Name: ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان
- Alternative City Name: Dera Ismail Khan
Road names should follow the same format as cities, Roman Urdu is primary and Urdu (English) is alt.
A list of cities for Pakistan is available via the Cities page.
If you do not know the translation please leave the names marked as "None" and let the local community add the names or reach out to one of the local community members. Do not use online translators as they are not always accurate. Remember you can always navigate across blank road names but you cannot navigate without the roads.