Slow Cities - Theme Cities: Solutions for Urban Problems - page 573

This type of more diverse governance is also typical of some of the New Regional-
ism initiatives (Chap. 2). But claims for open participation in the workings of Cit-
taslow sub-committees should be treated with a degree of caution on two grounds.
First, the commitment of committee members to their own town's local uniqueness
may reduce their ability or willingness to see beyond 'the local'. However, Cittaslow
members do take part in international and national networks, and the appeal of the
movement's “principles have travelled beyond the 'local' towns where its model is
applied” (Pink 2009 , p. 457). However, committee members may view neighbour-
ing towns as a potential threat to their own local authenticity and economy, or may
attach less importance to the democratic claims that derive from the adjacent towns
and regions beyond the locality. Second, a member's emphasis on local uniqueness
skirts the potential for conflicts within the locality. In most cases, as Pink noted
(2008, p. 186), the populations within Cittaslow member towns are often largely
unaware of the movement, let alone committed to its goals. Indeed, Pink goes on
to advise against referring analytically to these towns as 'communities' as this will
obscure how their policies are shaped by a small number of local actors. Mayer and
Knox ( 2006 , p. 332) have also noted that although local organisations involved in
Cittaslow initiatives continue to make efforts to involve local citizens in their ac-
tivities as part of their commitment to the Charter, their Cittaslow agendas do not
seem to have obtained grassroots citizen support. Pink ( 2009 , p. 456) concluded
that at the local level this continues to be a top-down organization, formed by a few
broadly middle class, committed activists. Although these middle class alliances of
small businesses, traders, artisans and eco-activists in Cittaslow towns in the U.K.
may be representative of the range of the main political parties, they are neverthe-
less homogeneous in their commitment to what has been referred to as the “politics
of lifestyle—based around issues of eating, shopping and travelling” (Furedi 2011 ).
These activists may set out to promote open participation in their meetings and
through events and initiatives. But it remains to be seen if this will be taken up by
the population at large, or if Cittaslow supporters will use their legalized position in
local government to impose their own 'lifestyle politics' on the wider community.

15﻽8 Conclusions and Prospects

In many parts of the world small historic towns that used to thrive as centres of their
local region, and were shown by possibilist geographers in France in particular as
having distinctive ways of life and traditions, suffered from two changes. One was
the ability of larger urban nodes to increase their functional importance, as well
as extending their spheres of influence which reduced the number of functions in
these smaller centres. Another came from the pressures to adopt the seemingly in-
exorable standardization of modernist life-styles, which made smaller centres seem
old-fashioned and without opportunities or dynamism. In many ways the Cittaslow
movement has been a reaction against these pressures by stressing the importance
of alternatives to these trends, by emphasizing the role of small historic towns in