Fifty years of the Friuli Venezia Giulia regional technical map: a best practice in the Italian cartographic context

Fifty years have already passed away from the production start-up of the regional technical map of the Italian Friuli Venezia Giulia region. On this occasion, the part of the new regional topographic database (DBT), relating to the Trieste province, is now available. This is a new digital product that represents a significant technological evolution of the well-known “Carta Tecnica Regionale Numerica.” In conjunction with this important event, before the time would definitely delete the memory of the origins, this paper gives a synthetic excursus of the various phases of design, realization and use of the Friuli Venezia Giulia regional technical map (CTR) and of its subsequent digital version (CTRN). The beginning of that development period was marked by a catastrophic event: the 1976 earthquake, and also by the following reconstruction phase that transformed the region. In correspondence, the new digital cartography had been an essential tool for developing and managing the territory. Furthermore, the main characteristics of the now partially available Topographic Database (DBT) will be described. At last, this paper is aimed to remind the various professional figures that have contributed to realize these important cartographic tools.