We have seen a continuing trend where high speed mobility and urbanization have created a scenario where the cities are disconnected from their hinterland despite the fact that they are reliant on them for energy and food. These in-between landscapes are now experienced in the blink of an eye from your car or a seat on a train. The result is that the inhabitants of this territory are left with dwindling local economies and feelings of disconnection. The particular focus of this project is the region between Milano and Torino which is home of Europe’s largest rice producing region and soon the home of the 2015 Expo.

Recognizing that there is little in the way of recourses to develop this region physically we look instead to the potentials of new digital and social media to attract visitors and connect existing inhabitants. This is done in two parts, first by building a local knowledge base and online community that can help establish a narrative for the region. The second is the development of an online platform which is to be curated by select individuals from the territory. The goal of this platform is both as a means of communication between locals and visitors but also as a means for further physical interaction in-situ.

As part of the solution we developed a website which acts as the platform by which these stories can be communicated as well as a gateway for visitors to the territory. The website combines digital mapping with social media as a way to organize content spatially rather than topically. By focusing on visualizing the context where these narratives are established we hope to map not just the individual nodes or Points of Interest (POIs) but the physical and virtual networks that link these sites of interaction.