Marco Polo talking to Kublai Khan while describing a bridge, stone by stone...

KK: Which stone holds up the bridge?
MP: The bridge is not held up by any one stone, but by the line of the arch they form
KK: So why are you talking to me about the stones? I am only interested in the arch
MP: Without the stones, there is no arch

Italo Calvino
Le città invisibili, Torino 1972

The know-how to change in order to continue to grow. Torino is today a city undergoing full-scale transformation, as anyone crossing it will see: major building sites, from those that are reclaiming space until recently occupied by the railway to those for the underground rail system, from facilities for the 2006 Olympic Games to the planned new Civic Library. But the transformation goes beyond what is visible. A city that for over one hundred years was the automotive capital and the industrial capital in the Italian and European scenario is now asserting itself in the field of new technologies and is to all effects already a centre of international importance in the ICT sector. As mayor, I am proud of the fact that Torino has been chosen in recent years by major telecommunications groups to locate their management centres and new activities.
The people and companies that arrive in our city or are founded here find a special welcome, made up of culture, traditions, museums and monuments, but also with a capacity to learn and change that is part of the city's DNA. It is no chance that here we have experiences of training that are unique in the world, and it is no chance that we have a European public school that hosts children of many different nationalities. We want to continue to learn, to learn to do things well, to learn to teach others, because we feel that we are capable of growing further and reaching new goals. The 2006 Games are one of these: this is a great challenge that will put us in the limelight, forcing us to overcome the traditional discretion that is part of our make-up. We are working on it.

Sergio Chiamparino
Mayor of Torino