Cittaslow Idea as a New Proposition to Stimulate Sustainable Local Development

Abstract

The idea of “good quality of life” cities was introduced to Poland in 2006, when the Polish National Cittaslow City Network was founded i.a. by Lidzbark Warmiński. In the context of popularizing the idea—slow-style of life—it was decided to undertake research aimed at identifying the influence of the Cittaslow concept on the initiation of actions that have a positive impact on local sustainable development. Referring to the main objective of the study, the hypothesis was accepted stating that membership in the Cittaslow network has a positive impact on the local development of the city, as it is a source of new projects undertaken by the authorities that improve the quality of life of the inhabitants and at the same time are implemented with the participation of local communities. The hypothesis was verified in a survey conducted in 2017 and 2019 among the residents of the city of Lidzbark Warmiński, using a questionnaire. As the research shows and the research of other authors confirms, the quality of life in cities belonging to the Cittaslow network has significantly improved over the last few years. Residents also assessed the degree of satisfaction of their needs and the level of development of the local city against other cities in the region. Obtaining the opinion of residents regarding the Cittaslow network as a direction of local sustainable development, as well as assessing its impact on the quality of life of the urban community turned out to be important from the perspective of further analysis. This issue is important because the idea of the international association Cittaslow is to promote the potential of smaller towns as an alternative to living in big cities, the rush and progressive globalization. Cities in the network are committed to sustainable development by shaping a conscious urban policy, the right relationship between economic growth, the environment and improving the quality of life of residents.

Polish Cittaslow Local Governments’ Support for Renewable Energy Deployment vs. Slow City Concept

“…The slow city concept, currently evolving into a green slow city concept, is fully in line with the need to support the deployment of renewable energy at the local level, and thus to help in achieving the green growth of Europe. It concentrates on endogenous resources, including natural ones, the needs and development of local communities, their cultural heritage, and the quality of life of present and future local generations [10][11][12]. It assumes the protection and prudent use of natural resources, ecological education, social justice, and the cultivation of local production, often using traditional and ecological technologies [13].…”

Activities Undertaken in the Member Cities of the Polish National Cittaslow Network in the Area of “Energy and Environmental Policy”

“…There is general consent in the literature that the area of "energy and environmental policy" is a very important area of the city's functioning, and that the criteria that must be met by slow cities in this area are fully concordant with the concept of sustainable development [3,4,11,16,21,23,39,66,67]. These criteria encourage cities to implement projects in the following areas: reducing their carbon footprints, using renewable energy sources, recycling and organizing campaigns to promote energy saving.…”

“…Other researchers underline that the integration of the development of a city with the principles of Cittaslow enables the local authorities to focus on such important questions as protection of nature and promotion of ecological attitudes, conservation of the city's historic heritage, promotion of so-called culture of hospitality, or elimination of architectural barriers. Cities functioning in concordance with the assumptions of the "slow city" concept develop in line with the principles of sustainable development, take care of their natural resources and do not carry out activities which could unduly degrade them (the case study of Lidzbark Warmi ński in Poland) [23].…”

“…There are articles available in the literature in which the authors attempt to evaluate the effects achieved by Cittaslow cities in selected areas in which cities function [5,73,74] or just in selected slow cities [7,23,[75][76][77]. In contrast, there is a scarcity of papers dedicated to effects achieved in all cities that belong to the national Cittaslow network in a given country [37].…”

“…The sustainable development of a city, which is not an entirely self-sufficient unit, but which also takes advantage of the resources of suburban communities, needs to be understood as an even and simultaneous development of all spheres of activity of its residents. These spheres comprise both the social, economic and environmental dimensions [23].…”