The Impact of the Slow City Movement on Place Authenticity, Entrepreneurial Opportunity, and Economic Development

The Slow City (Cittaslow) concept represents an emerging global trend where participant small cities commit to growing sustainably by preserving their authenticity while celebrating their local culture and diversity. Meanwhile, marketers increasingly find authenticity to be critical for campaigns with efficacy. Using a sample of 762 residents from slow cities, neighboring cities, and other Turkish cities, the authors empirically examine the Slow City movement and demonstrate its positive impact on place authenticity. Slow City membership also positively moderates the effect of perceived authenticity on both perceived entrepreneurial opportunities and economic development, which positively impact quality of life and intention to stay respectively. The results also indicate that the benefits of the Slow City movement spill over to neighboring cities. The Slow City movement offers much promise for place marketing and has potential to slow down the heavy migration from rural to urban areas in emerging markets.