Cities are often described through numbers, plans, and infrastructures. Yet the social energy that truly animates them - associations, informal networks, local initiatives - remains largely invisible. Urban Constellations makes this hidden ecosystem visible, mapping the people and practices that quietly shape the territory of Rome.
Question
How can we represent a complex and fragmented network of social initiatives in a way that reveals both their individuality and their collective impact on the city?
Humap approach
Humap approaches urban data as a relational system rather than a simple list of entities.
Qualitative research, fieldwork, and on-site observation were combined with data collection to map 329 local realities, from neighborhood committees to urban gardens, from grassroots gyms to open-air museums.
Maps, infographics, and visual narratives translate this ecosystem into a readable structure, transforming scattered information into patterns, clusters, and networks.
The constellation metaphor allows viewers to move between scales:
from the single initiative to the broader social landscape.
Outcome
An editorial and exhibition project that uses maps and data visualization as storytelling tools to reveal the invisible social infrastructure of Rome.
By turning initiatives into stars and connections into constellations, the project offers a new way to read the city as a living network of cooperation, care, and collective action.