The Social Street Experiment in Bologna

A couple who moved in Bologna and who knew absolutely no one in the Italian city,  created a Facebook group exclusively for their neighbors on the street in the hope of an eventual socialization. Federico Bastiani, the man with the great idea, has stuck a poster on the street announcing the existence of the online group, writes New York Times, and in just three or four days, it already welcomed 20 members.

The impact of the experiment astonished almost everybody living in the area as it changed even the concept of walking on Via Fondazza. People, once stranger to one another, salute each other, speak to each other, but most important feel that they belong there, that they are among friends. About half of the residents of the street are involved in the Facebook group. Those who do not use the internet are invited to community events via posters and word of mouth. Socializing usually starts online, but turns into interactions in the offline world.

Via Fondazza no longer gives its residences the feeling of being alone in a huge neighborhood, but rather that they are the members of a town community where everyone knows everyone. Currently, their Facebook group counts more than 1,100 members and counting.

The initiative was first called the "social street" in Italy, and its success was so great that has crossed the borders of Bologna. Currently there are 393 such social streets in Europe, Brazil and New Zealand, all inspired by the idea of Bastiani.