Slow Cities as One Model for Cultural Sustainability
Nov 18th, 2009 by mamason
For several months now, I have been toying with the idea of writing a post about Cittaslow–Slow Cities. Related to Slow Food but a bit less developed, Slow Cities is a full-blown part of the Slow Movement. They have guidelines, they offer memberships, and they even have a charter that they sometimes call a manifesto. As the UK site says,
Collective well-being is at the heart of the Cittaslow philosophy….A Cittaslow town celebrates tradition and quality.
Who can oppose collective well-being, tradition, and quality?
My ambivalence about the Slow City Movement has much to do with the fact that it seems to the province of the wealthy. To date Slow Cities only appear in Canada, Europe and South Korea–places where quality of life is already pretty high and some people have the luxury of spending their time pursuing an even better way of life. Because CittaSlow emphasizes hospitality, some people have suggested that it is merely window dressing for the tourism industry. Another concern It’s not that I am opposed to that–in fact, I have considered trying to get my neighborhood in Washington, D.C. to join as a Cittaslow supporter. It is simply the fact that so few people are able to access this approach to cultural sustainability.
