Determining a Strategy for Sustainable Development of Local Identity: Case of Birgi

Today, it is difficult to retain and strengthen local character in the globalizing world. Showing the advantages of small towns and to strengthen their identities with focusing on 'small realities in a globalizing world" by increasing the value of local differences is an important subject in the global atmosphere. From this point, taking the advantage of Birgi's (Izmir/Turkey) having strong natural, man-made and cultural identity, this study aims to find out the most appropriate planning strategy for the sustainability of Birgi's (Izmir-Turkey) local character and identity which was selected as a case study. This study made some on-site observations for establishing the existing local identity potentials of Birgi. After these observations, within the scope of the study, first of all, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT factors) of the settlement were identified. Additionally, to determine the most appropriate planning strategy, a numerical SWOT analysis called A'WOT analysis which is the combination of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and SWOT analysis was used. Then, identified SWOT factors prioritized by an expert group (35 person) using A'WOT analysis. After finding general and local priority values of SWOT factors, four planning strategies were displayed by using TOWS matrix. Then, the most appropriate strategy among these planning strategies was chosen according to their priority values. In conclusion, it was found that "Entering to Slow City Movement" planning strategy is the most appropriate and important strategy between prioritized planning strategies for the sustainability of Birgi's local identity.