A Slow City Movement: The Case of Halfeti in Turkey

Abstract

In today's world where globalization is increasing, many cities cannotada pt to rapid changes. The changing lifestyles of the inhabitants of thecity cause a rapid loss of urban differences and originalities. Severalmovements have emerged to solve these problems. One of thesemovements is the slow city movement proposed for a betterenvironment and social life. The slow city movement sets out theparameters that ensure the viability of cities, which give importance tothe continuity of the improvement of social, economic, cultural andenvironmental qualities. This movement, which strives for thepreservation of originality against the impact of globalization, has a greatimportance in order to increase the quality of urban life.The aim of this work is to identify the strengths and weaknesses ofsustainable development of the slow city declared places, and to identifythe threats and opportunities that can be faced. In this way, targets and strategies for the sustainability of the desired criteria for cities declaredas slow cities can be determined. In the study, environmental analysisand situation analysis were carried out by observation and inventorycollection method in Halfeti province of Urfa declared as slow city. Thelocal people and tourists who visited the area were interviewed andSWOT analysis was conducted by brainstorming method. The district ofHalfeti consists of two regions. The old Halfeti area is a very oldsettlement; some of the buildings it contains are under the waters of theEuphrates, in the appearance of an open-air museum. The new Halfeti isa region formed with non-specific regulations and illegal and distortedbuilding is seen intensively. With the declaration of Halfeti as a slow city,the tourism movements have begun to accelerate. As a result of thisstudy, it has been determined that this region with historical and naturalbeauty has been caught unprepared for tourism development. For thisreason, it is necessary to prioritize rehabilitation efforts in the regionand prepare action plans for the new Halfeti settlement. The conclusionis that Halfeti's unique identity values should be promoted on a globalscale and protected as cultural heritage. It is expected that the resultsobtained in the study will also be a road map for other slow cities similarto Halfeti.