Fading Italian City Reinvents Itself As Technology Haven

A 13th-century Italian village on the verge of extinction invests in technology to redesign itself as an Internet haven.

1 minute read

August 14, 2002, 9:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

The Italian village of Colletta di Castelbianco, dating back to the 13th century, was on the verge of extinction, says Fast Company magazine, until it got a new design and the Internet helped bring it back to life. "Colletta's ancient dwellings were barely visible when land surveyor Alessandro Pampirio and two colleagues stumbled upon the village during a Sunday stroll back in 1991," says the article, "La Dolce Vita, Internet Style." Today, underneath the village, "a 10-mile network of fiber optics and copper delivers a level of connectivity that the largest Italian cities would envy. Each home in Colletta has an Internet line, an ISDN port that supports videophone and videoconferencing services, a radiophone for use around the village, and cable for video-on-demand and interactive TV."

Thanks to Dateline APA

FULL STORY: La Dolce Vita, Internet Style

Thursday, August 15, 2002 in Fast Company

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