Editing Cittaslow (section)

==History==
Cittaslow was founded in [[Italy]] in October 1999, following a meeting organised by the mayor of [[Greve in Chianti]], [[Tuscany]].<ref name="small town 43">{{cite book|last1=Knox|first1=Paul|last2=Meyer|first2=Heike|title=Small Town Sustainability: Economic, Social, and Environmental Innovation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzZO8wtdTb0C&q=cittaslow&pg=PA44|year=2009|publisher=Birkhauser|isbn=978-3-7643-8579-8|page=43}}</ref> A 54-point charter was developed, encouraging high quality local food and drink, general conviviality and the opposition to cultural standardisation.<ref name="small town 43" /> In 2001, 28 Italian towns were signed up to the pledge, certified by trained operatives of Cittaslow.<ref name="small town 44">{{cite book|last1=Knox|first1=Paul|last2=Meyer|first2=Heike|title=Small Town Sustainability: Economic, Social, and Environmental Innovation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzZO8wtdTb0C&q=cittaslow&pg=PA44|year=2009|publisher=Birkhauser|isbn=978-3-7643-8579-8|page=44}}</ref> The first Slow City in the English-speaking world was [[Ludlow]], [[England]], in 2003.<ref name="Waking up">{{cite news|author=Patrick Barkham |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/sep/13/communities.britishidentityandsociety |title=Waking up to the joys of life in the slow lane |work=The Guardian |date=13 September 2004 |accessdate=18 May 2021 }}</ref> The movement expanded broadly beyond Italy and, by 2006, national Cittaslow networks existed in Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. In March of 2007 the [[South Australia|South Australian]] town of [[Goolwa, South Australia|Goolwa]] was declared a Cittaslow member and became the first Non-European to gain Cittaslow membership{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}. By mid-2009, fourteen countries had at least one officially accredited Cittaslow community. In July 2009, the small seaside village of [[Cowichan Bay]] in Canada became the North American continent's first Cittaslow town.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} In June 2011, Gökçeada in Turkey became the first and only Cittaslow island.<ref>{{cite news|title=cittaslow cities Aegean|url=https://slowcity.goturkiye.com/cittaslow-cities-aegean-turkiye|access-date=6 July 2023|newspaper=goturkiye.com}}</ref> Nearly a decade later in October 2020, [[İzmir|Izmir]], [[Turkey]]'s 3rd metropolitan municipality, has become The First Cittaslow Metropolis of the World.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Izmir is Candidate to Become the First Cittaslow Metropolis {{!}} Cittaslow International |url=https://www.cittaslow.org/news/turkish-national-network-izmir-candidate-become-first-cittaslow-metropolis |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=www.cittaslow.org |language=en}}</ref>