Cittaslow Idea as a New Proposition to Stimulate Sustainable Local Development

Zbigniew Brodziński and Krystyna Kurowska
Additional contact information
Zbigniew Brodziński: Department of Economy Competitiveness, Faculty of Economic Science, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 2, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Krystyna Kurowska: Department of Spatial Analysis and Real Estate Market, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 2, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-15

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 Warmi?ski. 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 Warmi?ski, 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.

Keywords: Cittaslow; small cities; local development; local community; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/5039/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/5039/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:5039-:d:546909

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().