Externality examination of the Cittaslow movement: The case of Seferihisar

Externality, which is one of the causes of market failures, is the effect that occurs outside the price mechanism as a result of production or consumption activities. Considering the area where externalities spread in the globalizing world, the necessity of internalizing externalities is important. For this reason, in the study, the concept of externality in the literature, types of externalities, then market and public solution proposals within the scope of internalization of externalities are discussed. With the effect of globalization, the effect of an economic, cultural or social event in any part of the world has become felt on other societies. In the world undergoing a rapid change process, changes have occurred in the production and consumption habits of people. The depletion of the ozone layer, the reduction of forests, rapid population growth, uncontrolled industrialization, loss of local identity, and trivialization of cultural heritage are the results of these habits. One of the solutions to the aforementioned problems is the concept of Cittaslow. Cittaslow is a union of municipalities that supports the local identity of cities to exist in their original form in the fast flow of the world. Cittaslow offers an alternative local model in order to support the sustainable environment, protect the local identity and improve the quality of life. The aim of the study is to examine the external effects of Cittaslow activities and to evaluate the sustainable local development potential of these external effects. In this context, the activities put forward by Seferihisar, which became a Cittaslow in 2009, and the externalities caused by these activities were examined. The research was conducted as a literature review and it was observed that Cittaslow activities mostly had positive external effects on sustainable local development. Keywords: Externality, cittaslow, sustainability, local progress, environment.