Why continuity matters more than data volume
As the city expanded, the territory filled with elements that persisted beyond individual projects. Parcels, roads, bridges, networks, and buildings consolidated as stable components of space. Yet each growth phase continued to represent them as if they were new.
Railways, highways, and later utility infrastructures reorganized the territory according to their own functional logic. Each intervention produced its own maps and inventories, disconnected from what came before. The territory remained the same, but digital continuity did not.
The physical territory did not disappear, but it was digitally rebuilt again and again. Each project captured a partial version of reality based on immediate objectives. When the project ended, much of that knowledge was lost or isolated.
Assets emerge when territorial elements stop being temporary representations and become persistent references. They are not just objects with geometry, but identities that can be recognized across time, systems, and institutions. Through assets, the territory begins to acquire memory.
An asset does not belong to a project or a platform. It exists before and after interventions and can participate in multiple processes. This persistence is what enables continuity in territorial management.
One territory. Five layers.
Discover how assets enable continuity across systems and time.
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Next: Time Enters the System
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Conceptual reference: TwinGEO Layers – Assets