My friend Jeff sent me a link to a story about "Partenope," an online civic space created by 35-year-old Naples resident Claudio Agrelli to support ethical and democratic behavior in his city. The social networking site encourages Napoli citizens to exchange news, discuss local issues, and petition the city for changes that they want. It also certifies businesses that pledge to employ ethical business practices.
With about 2,000 members, Partenope is still a small segment of the 1 million citizens of Naples. But Agrelli hopes that in the next phase they will be able to offer tangible benefits in the real world for Partenope members, including discounts at local businesses.
While this somewhat breathless blog post calls Partenope a "virtual online city," it's probably more correct to describe it as an online community space. There is an interactive Google Map with info tagged by users based on location. But it doesn't have the sense of place, synchronous communication, avatarized identity, or persistence that would make it truly virtual. Still, sounds like a neat experiment in participatory democracy and community building.
Read the BBC story about Partenope for more details, or visit the site yourself (but bring an Italian dictionary.)
