In recent years, Costa Rica has been working on implementing a system of street signs, numbered buildings and even postal codes to combat what some people perceive as an antiquated system of cardinal directions and descriptions based on old (and sometimes dubious) landmarks. Thanks to navigation and mapping technology such as GPS, Waze and Google Maps, mail carriers and delivery drivers these days have an easier time getting around and performing their jobs, but how did they accomplish this before?

Here’s a neat explanation by Makeshift magazine:

 

 

 

 

About Makeshift:

Makeshift is a field guide to hidden creativity. From homemade aircraft in Nigeria to drug smugglers in Mexico, Chinese hackers pushed up against the Great Firewall to Haitian communities pushing back against marginalization, we believe ingenuity can be found everywhere if you know where to look. Let us tag along on your creative pursuit.