Mapping Pakistan

[snj...@gmail.com]

Pakistan is now open for editing by all users.

[Usman Raza]

This is good news. I'm going to get started on some areas in Peshawar.
Having lived there for 27 years, I know a big part of it. But still, I
am thinking how to get more people involved. This is not a small
job...

[Anduril]

Awesome. I got informed through my university's alumni mailing list
(GIK Institute), where a member of our alumni who works at Google
shared the good news.

Thanks for starting off the work on Peshawar Usman, like you I also
spent a considerable part of my life there and have started adding
road names, markers etc. Feel free to get in touch in case you have
ideas on how to collaborate.

Regards,
Ali Khattak

[mamoon]

Currently Google mapmaker is showing the boundary areas of different
cities in incorrect cities/districts. e.g if you place a bookmark in
boundaries of Attock, it gives NWFP as Province option and similar
with some areas of Ibd. Though I had posted comments to moderators but
does somebody have any other ideas for this??

as a side note, we being largest Orkut and other social forum users, I
see, we can accomplish it in shorter time but the accuracy &
granularity will determine the success. the completeness may not be
possible as the images are not that recent. So lets be
collaborative !!!

BR,
Mamoon

[Usman Raza]

Thanks Ali. Do you have any contacts in UET who could spread the word?
I have lived in University town area and studied at KMC. I think major
roads and landmarks should be done before getting into minor details.
A problem though is there are many roads with no official name and
several adjacent roads with the same name. E.g. the main road that
continues from GT road towards Hayatabad is called University Road for
most part and its offshoot from Speen Jumaat into University Town is
also called University Road.

Usman

[Usman Raza]

Actually I just recalled. It's original name is either Jamrud Road or
Old Jamrud Road.

[Usman Raza]

Here's a good map of Peshawar to help us:
http://www.lahorerealestate.com/Maps/Pashawar%20Map%20Large%20Latest.jpg

Usman

[Ajith Kumar]

Hi guys,

Not sure if you read this particular clause on the sites page. Might have some value to it . . .

About copying data from other maps

We expect our users to respect the intellectual property of other maps publishers, and data providers - please do not copy information from other maps,  only add information that you know well to the map.  The Google Map Maker Terms of Service provides more information on what you can do with this service.

Cheers
Aj

[Usman Raza]

Yeah I've read that. Actually my point was just to help in orienting
some locations. Even though we know the areas, sometimes it gets
confusing.

On Jun 24, 1:07 am, "Ajith Kumar" <ajsp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> Not sure if you read this particular clause on the sites page. Might have
> some value to it . . .
>

> *About copying data from other maps*We expect our users to respect the

> intellectual property of other maps publishers, and data providers - please
> do not copy information from other maps,  only add information that you know
> well to the map.  The Google Map Maker Terms of

> Service<http://www.google.com/mapmaker/mapfiles/s/terms_mapmaker.html>provides

> more information on what you can do with this service.
>
> Cheers
> Aj
>

[Aqeel Ahmad]

We are also trying to get a few volunteers to map Lahore, Islamabad
and Karachi. Check the thread at http://ideashut.com/idea/google-street-map-of-pakistan/

One thing that is bothering me though. I don't know what is the
moderation process and what will it take to get a map maker map
approved so that it can appear on maps.google.com. Can anyone help?

I don't think we should put all this effort just to find out that it
will never make its way to the official google maps product.

Aqeel

[Ajith Kumar]

Hey guys,

I think I can take that one . . . basically good content that you create will find its way through to maps.google.com. Good content will include content that has good geometry, good quality, and finally value addition to the maps.

Let me point out that it might not show up immediately on maps.google.com, but eventually will (give it a couple of months) if the data is good enough. Thats the objective, to make it accessible to all users from across the world!

Cheers
Aj

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

give it a couple of months

Whoa! That's real far-away; is there anyway we can help in the moderation process? Does google appoint community moderators?

[Ajith Kumar]

You can all moderate content that comes up on Map Maker.

I suggest you read up a bit more about moderation here.

[sami]

can't mark "Intersections" though I see a couple already there - weird

On Jun 24, 2:17 pm, "Ajith Kumar" <ajsp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> You can all moderate content that comes up on Map Maker.
>
> I suggest you read up a bit more about moderation

> here<http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/user-guide/product-feat...>
> .
>
> On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 2:44 PM, Muhammed Nasrullah <nasrul...@gmail.com>

> wrote:
>
> > give it a couple of months
>
> > Whoa! That's real far-away; is there anyway we can help in the moderation
> > process? Does google appoint community moderators?
>

> > On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 2:08 PM, Ajith Kumar <ajsp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Hey guys,
>
> >> I think I can take that one . . . basically good content that you create
> >> will find its way through to maps.google.com. Good content will include
> >> content that has good geometry, good quality, and finally value addition to
> >> the maps.
>
> >> Let me point out that it might not show up immediately on maps.google.com,
> >> but eventually will (give it a couple of months) if the data is good enough.
> >> Thats the objective, to make it accessible to all users from across the
> >> world!
>
> >> Cheers
> >> Aj
>

> >> On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 2:25 PM, Aqeel Ahmad <aqeel.ah...@gmail.com>

[zareerk]

I figured out how to do this. First you draw all the roads that exist.
This automatically creates an intersection. You can then edit this by
right clicking and hitting find around that spot and then naming it.

> > >>> > > > > > > > > Pakistan is now open for editing by all users.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

Quick question: when do I use the Point tool vs the Shape tool?

At a close zoom level, I can make a box around a shopping mall. Or I can just mark it as a point. Whats the convention to follow here?

[zareerk]

I would mark features that have distinct boundary as polygons else I
am marking them as points. e.g. I marked the Rawalpindi Cricket
Stadium as a polygon. But if I was to mark a single building I would
use a point

> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[sami jan]

if you live in a block of flats that are part of, say, askari 1
apartments - a point tool item would be a block number - a polygon
would be the whole area of the complex with all 18-20 blocks inside

[Ajith Kumar]

Spot on!

Cheers
Aj

[Envy]

Hello All,

Have you people had a look at http://naqsha.net. Naqsha.net has
street
level maps of major Pakistani cities and are available for view
online. Naqsha.net also has searching (roads and POIs) and routing
capabilities as well. Just search and select the start and end points
and you get turn by turn directions and the route displayed on the
map. Do try it out. There is a newer version in the working which is
available at http://naqsha.net/extjs/.


Regards,


Nadir

[Nash]

We need a best practices document. The current one is just too small
in scope:
http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/user-guide/best-practices

For example, while making a road, what does priority signify and what
should be chosen when? What rule of thumb should be used when
selecting a level of prominence? Is the number of lanes both ways or
one way?

On Jun 24, 9:23 pm, Envy <nadirvi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello All,
>

> Have you people had a look athttp://naqsha.net. Naqsha.net has

[ujmi]

Hmm I also noticed there is a problem with area division. For example
I-8 in Islamabad shows in Rawalpindi and I couldn't figure out how to
change that!

Anyway I will be working on Islamabad and Lahore section to start
with.

[sami jan]

yeah we do need such a doc - there is an option for roads with and w/o
dividers - also it pretty messy trying to branch out 2 roads from one
- like the one leading to chaklala III from jinnah park - seems to me
the roads in USA are pretty straightforward

[Ajith Kumar]

Hi all,

Did you see this? They have updated the road hierarchy on the sites
page. That could be of help!

http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/help/introduction

Also, levels of prominence should be left alone IMHO. The reason being
every feature should show at a certain level. For ex, if you search
for Lahore, it should show up a higher level than a street called
Lahore Street. Thats what prominence means, the level at which you can
see them when you are on the maps!

Number of lanes are generally both ways because the road, even if
captured as a single line denotes two-way traffic. If its one-way,
then makes sense to capture that as 1 lane or 2 lanes. Because cities
usually do not use big roads as one-way roads . . .

Hope that clears a few questions at least

Cheers
Aj

On Jun 25, 2:49 am, Nash <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Ajith Kumar]

Hi all,

Did you see this? They have updated the road hierarchy on the sites
page. That could be of help!

http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/help/introduction

Also, levels of prominence should be left alone IMHO. The reason being
every feature should show at a certain level. For ex, if you search
for Lahore, it should show up a higher level than a street called
Lahore Street. Thats what prominence means, the level at which you can
see them when you are on the maps!

Number of lanes are generally both ways because the road, even if
captured as a single line denotes two-way traffic. If its one-way,
then makes sense to capture that as 1 lane or 2 lanes. Because cities
usually do not use big roads as one-way roads . . .

Hope that clears a few questions at least

Cheers
Aj


On Jun 25, 2:49 am, Nash <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Ajith Kumar]

Roads with dividers are generally captured as single roads with two-
way access as I have observed in other countries on Map Maker. Also,
they are easier to connect to a circle that way. I have observed in
other countries that are already showing up on Map Maker as mapped.

On Jun 25, 12:12 pm, "sami jan" <sami....@gmail.com> wrote:
> yeah we do need such a doc - there is an option for roads with and w/o
> dividers - also it pretty messy trying to branch out 2 roads from one
> - like the one leading to chaklala III from jinnah park - seems to me
> the roads in USA are pretty straightforward
>

[sami jan]

i got this comment - road has to be drawn with direction - is there an
attribute for this?

[Ajith Kumar]

Maybe if its a one-way road, then directions becomes important.

On Jun 25, 12:24 pm, "sami jan" <sami....@gmail.com> wrote:
> i got this comment - road has to be drawn with direction - is there an
> attribute for this?
>

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

Thanks Ajith, looks like I missed this one, thanks!

[Aamir]

Hi guys, two questions.

1. How do we create Highways and Motorways?
2. There is a length limit of 5 Km on roads. Some roads here are
longer than this though they are not Highways. e.g., Murree Road in
Rawalpindi. So, is there any way of drawing roads longer than 5 Km?

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

1.

Create a Road, Give it a name, select Add/Edit details > Attributes > Priority. Choose Primary Highway

In order to understand what priority your road should be check here:
http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/help/introduction?pli=1

[Ajith Kumar]

Highways and motorways you would create as you would any other road. You can read up on how to create a road here.

I think the only other way to keep drawing roads more than 5 kms is to try and keep connecting new segments to them. This is what the site says on how to extend roads:

Extending a road that you have added

1. Click on the the line tool .
2. Select "Road" from the type pull down.
3. Start the extension by placing the first point on the edge of the existing road.
4. Start drawing the road.
5. Double click to end your drawing.
6. Edit the attributes of the road in the info window.

Hope this answers your doubt . . .

Cheers
Aj

[d0ct0r]

wikimapia.org is quite good i have been using it for ages, its powered
by google's imagery .

Karachi:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=24.9692525&lon=66.947937&z=11&l=0&m=a&v=2

[d0ct0r]

it would be nice if google could add map maker option in google earth,
it would be easier to navigate

SA

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

I agree, there is alot of community data on Google Earth that could be added in a pre-moderated fashion. Duplicates could be removed would help push the efforts forward

[Usman Raza]

I noticed some mistakes in the map of Peshawar provided by naqsha.net
Please be cautious and only map those areas that you know yourself.

Usman

On Jun 25, 3:44 pm, "Muhammed Nasrullah" <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I agree, there is alot of community data on Google Earth that could be added
> in a pre-moderated fashion. Duplicates could be removed would help push the
> efforts forward
>

[Ajith Kumar]

Hey guys,

Don't know if you noticed this but they have added some cool content on the sites page on how to create flyovers! Makes some sense to me now . . .

Here is the link

http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/help/introduction

look for adding flyover/underpass to the map.

Cheers
Aj

[saashraf]

lets start another thread for each individual cities... and leave one
for general mapping issues..

On Jun 26, 9:30 am, "Ajith Kumar" <ajsp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> Don't know if you noticed this but they have added some cool content on the
> sites page on how to create flyovers! Makes some sense to me now . . .
>
> Here is the link
>
> http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/help/introduction
>
> look for adding flyover/underpass to the map.
>
> Cheers
> Aj
>

[Maqbool]

Hello Dear Friends,

I am really excited to know that google has started mapping the
Pakistani cities. I have lived in Lahore for 25 years and I am gonna
map Lahore. As currently i am living in France, I have a lot of
contacts among Pakistani students abroad .... I hope that I will be
able to spread this news very fast ... Woww i hope that this will go
very fast. I always missed this deficiency about pakistan.

Take care

> > > > > > > > Nadir- Hide quoted text -

[d0ct0r]

here in pakistan each roundabout have a distinct name, while marking
roundabouts which feature type should be used? people are marking them
as bus stations

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

To create a round about,
Create a Road, Give it a name, select Add/Edit details > Attributes > Segment Usage. Choose Roundabout / Traffic circle

[d0ct0r]

what about small roads inside residential areas,these roads don't have
names as such, so they should be simply named road or what?

On Jun 27, 8:20 pm, "Muhammed Nasrullah" <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:
> To create a round about,
> Create a Road, Give it a name, select Add/Edit details > Attributes >
> Segment Usage. Choose Roundabout / Traffic circle
>

[d0ct0r]

what about small roads inside residential areas,these roads don't have
names as such, so they should be simply named road or what?

On Jun 27, 8:20 pm, "Muhammed Nasrullah" <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:
> To create a round about,
> Create a Road, Give it a name, select Add/Edit details > Attributes >
> Segment Usage. Choose Roundabout / Traffic circle
>

[Rachna Agarwal]

You should leave the road unnamed if it does not have a name. You do not need need to name it as 'Road'

- Rachna

[d0ct0r]

i marked a roundabout using 'draw a line' tool and named it correctly,
now that change has been denied and in my inbox i got this comment
from user who moderated it.

"Hey, dont draw roundabouts in a single go. Draw them in 3-4 sections
and give them the one way direction. Capitalize first letter of each
word."

now can some one elaborate what exactly does he mean and how should i
contact him directly to ask for clarification..



On Jun 28, 10:07 am, "Rachna Agarwal" <rachna.agar...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> You should leave the road unnamed if it does not have a name. You do not
> need need to name it as 'Road'
> - Rachna
>

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

Click on the link given in the message. You can go to the detail view of your change and check out history section and comment there. If the change was denied and it does not exist anymore, create a new one.

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

For those of you editing Lahore, the Gulberg Main Boulevard is stuck for the past 5 days, any ideas how to move on? All connected roads are also stuck. Here's the link to it.

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

Question: For a country like Pakistan that does not have a detailed zonal information program (zip) in place etc; wouldn't it be better if the addresses were dervied from the locality/regions/neighbourhoods?

As an Example: There is a city marked as Lahore
In Lahore there is a neighbourhood marked as DHA (Defence Housing Authority)
In DHA there is a sub-locality marked Sector T
If there is a place in Sector T near a road, say, Khayaban-e-Jinnah, then the auto-generated address would be:

Lahore, DHA, Sector-T, Khayaban-e-Jinnah...

Ofcourse, this has to be in the reverse order (from specific to general).

Wouldn't this make a better addressing system? Just my thoughts

[Usman Raza]

We DO have Post Codes for each and every area of Pakistan:
http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/postcode/postcode.html

However we need a map with these post codes for every major city. If
someone has any contacts in Pakistan Post, we could probably get this
detail. I'm currently in US, so I can't get hold of anyone myself. But
I'm quite sure there is a post-code map lying somewhere...probably a
computer version..

Usman

On Jun 28, 7:38 pm, "Muhammed Nasrullah" <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Question: For a country like Pakistan that does not have a detailed zonal
> information program (zip) in place etc; wouldn't it be better if the
> addresses were dervied from the locality/regions/neighbourhoods?
>
> As an Example: There is a city marked as Lahore
> In Lahore there is a neighbourhood marked as DHA (Defence Housing Authority)
> In DHA there is a sub-locality marked Sector T
> If there is a place in Sector T near a road, say, Khayaban-e-Jinnah, then
> the auto-generated address would be:
>
> Lahore, DHA, Sector-T, Khayaban-e-Jinnah...
>
> Ofcourse, this has to be in the reverse order (from specific to general).
>
> Wouldn't this make a better addressing system? Just my thoughts
>

> On Sun, Jun 29, 2008 at 4:25 AM, Muhammed Nasrullah <nasrul...@gmail.com>

> wrote:
>
> > For those of you editing Lahore, the Gulberg Main Boulevard is stuck for
> > the past 5 days, any ideas how to move on? All connected roads are also

> > stuck. Here's the link to it<http://www.google.com/mapmaker?fll=31.524886,74.344826&fr=0.000732,0....>
> > .
>
> > On Sun, Jun 29, 2008 at 4:24 AM, Muhammed Nasrullah <nasrul...@gmail.com>

> > wrote:
>
> >> Click on the link given in the message. You can go to the detail view of
> >> your change and check out history section and comment there. If the change
> >> was denied and it does not exist anymore, create a new one.
>

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

Hmmm... I'll see who I can dig out.

In the meanwhile, can anyone tell me whats this rendering junk on the map? Same here.
Also, the map doesn't let me edit this incorrectly laid out road. Can anyone else change the road and make it into a roudabout?

[Usman Raza]

I didn't quite get your question. What is wrong with the first two
locations?
The third, the roundabout, I tried to edit but it says (Deleted).

On Jun 29, 2:32 pm, "Muhammed Nasrullah" <nasrul...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hmmm... I'll see who I can dig out.
>
> In the meanwhile, can anyone tell me whats

> this<http://www.google.com/mapmaker?fll=31.5047,74.331903&fr=0.000183,0.00...>rendering

> junk on the map? Same

> here<http://www.google.com/mapmaker?fll=31.506579,74.336843&fr=0.000183,0....>
> .

> Also, the map doesn't let me edit

> this<http://www.google.com/mapmaker?fll=31.510577,74.339923&fr=0.000183,0....>incorrectly

> laid out road. Can anyone else change the road and make it into
> a roudabout?
>

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

I see garbage rendered in the form of extra-lines which the edit tool doesn't pick up

[Maqbool]

Hi all,

Can the people who are working on Lahore bypass, Multan Road and M2
motorway area, be quick in responding in terms of moderation. A large
section of Multan Road near Samanabad is stuck since many days.

Thanks

-MAM-

[momers]

Should we be mapping these or not...most of the locations are visible
on the road if u drive around and have identification boards such as
10div HQ, ISPR Office...etc....

What is the standard practice here from a national security and safety
point of view?

Any one willing to give ISPR a call and clarifying? If the areas are
not too critical then they can be mapped. Sensitive installations can
be left unmarked.

I also saw the PAF airbase highlighted next to the old terminal
building of Lahore airport and was wondering if that is a good
idea..even though its not an operational base in the sense that no
front line aircraft get housed there.

[saashraf]

Are you serious? America is the most pickiest about security and they
have detailed maps of everything online, which includes higher
resolution images than what is available for Pakistan...

[abdulh...@gmail.com]

I wanted to draw your attention to another big feature of Pakistan
i.e. the Motorway. We should start mapping the motorway as well.
Unfortunately the imagery available is so old that the finished road
isn't visible but the path is clearly marked by the soil laid for the
purpose.
I've started form Peshawar towards south, but no one is there to
approve it. Moderators plz approve it so that i can go further.
The link to the map is
http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=10&ll=34.033243,71.671844&spn=0.01796,0.028925&t=h&z=15

[Usman Raza]

I'll join you on the motorway..
Usman

> The link to the map ishttp://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=10&ll=34.033243,71.671844&spn=0.017...

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?ll=31.572951,74.305794&spn=0.004479,0.010042&z=17

Action: Edit Entire Road Section on road Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam
Added new name "Jail Road" as "Preffered"

Got: Bad data (Road Section Inconsistent) has been found in this area. Please report this error with a link to this page. Internal Error : Bad Data (Bad Proto Uni...

For future reference, where should I post this to?

[Muhammed Nasrullah]

I mean to set it as Mall Road

[Zaigham]

Brilliant stuff guys.

There is much improved since last I've seen.

keep up guys.

[Usman Raza]

I can't seem to zoom in to full detail on a section of GT Road. Google
just doesn't give detail for that part. Someone denied that part for
'poor geometry'. If anyone else can zoom in and do a better geometry,
please do so.

On Jul 3, 4:03 am, abdulhasee...@gmail.com wrote:

> The link to the map ishttp://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=10&ll=34.033243,71.671844&spn=0.017...

[Dr. Awab Alvi]

Hey - im glad to land into this group ;) for the past 4 days I was
editing Karachi - to slowly get the hang of it - its fun to say the
least -

One problem I see is that major arteries like Shahrai Faisal / Shaheed-
e-Millat (etc) are drawn as ONE street - instead they should be
direction 4 lane streets parallel to each other - this in effect
allows for the adequate usage of the new Flyovers and exits while at
the same time caters to providing correct data -

I would suggest some revamping of the major arteries to sort this out
and the best way possible is to delete the original streets and re-
draft them - I tried editing them but its a nightmare

any suggestions