Integrating heritage assets in large commercial complexes: de-contextualization and re-signification of memory in Shanghai

Since early this century, multiple large-scale commercial projects in Shanghai and other Chinese cities incorporate heritage assets for the creation of new identities after de-contextualisation trough demolition of complete city blocks. This tabula rasa approach resulted in a discontinuity of the meaning and use that local communities gave to...

From city branding to urban transformation: How do Chinese cities implement city branding strategies?

Chinese cities have experienced unprecedented economic growth and urban population expansion in the last four decades. However, a variety of social and environmental problems is associated with urbanization. Cities try to grapple with these challenges but simultaneously find themselves locked in an intense competition with other cities. City...

From city promotion via city marketing to city branding: Examining urban strategies in 23 Chinese cities

City promotion, city marketing and city branding are all frequently mentioned and examined in the literature on urban governance. Based on the goals and characteristics of different city branding strategies, this study identifies a growing level of sophistication from city promotion via city marketing to city branding and proposes that the...

Economic city branding and stakeholder involvement in China: Attempt of a medium-sized city to trigger industrial transformation

Among known studies of city branding by Chinese megacities to realise urban transformation, there is no explorative study of how smaller Chinese cities engage in city branding and attempt to trigger industrial transformation. In response, this article presents an in-depth case study of city branding processes in a medium-sized Chinese city....

City Branding, Sustainable Urban Development and the Rentier State. How do Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai present Themselves in the Age of Post Oil and Global Warming?

In the past three decades Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have realised a meteoric economic rise. Whereas the former two can be considered ‘rentier states’ heavily depending on oil (and gas) revenues, the latter only leans on oil for a mere 6% of its gross domestic product (GDP). Although the economic rise has brought considerable welfare, it has...

Comparing city image and brand identity in polycentric regions using network analysis

In a globalising world, cities find themselves competing for visitors, residents, investors, and companies. They use place branding strategies to become more visible. However, conceptual and analytical confusion exists on the subjects of place image and brand identity, and current studies are limited to single cities, neglecting inter-city...

Towards Credible City Branding Practices: How Do Iran’s Largest Cities Face Ecological Modernization?

City branding is not only increasingly practiced in cities in established economies, but also among municipal governments in countries, until quite recently, rather closed off from the outside world. One country with a strong drive to engage in urban (re)development in the post-oil era through enhancing its ‘ecological modernization’ is Iran....

City branding in China's Northeastern region: How do cities reposition themselves when facing industrial decline and ecological modernization?

The past decade has seen a surge in the use of city branding, which is used to attract specific target groups of investors, high-tech green firms and talented workforce and reflects a desired shift from old, polluting manufacturing industries to new, clean service industries. Previous studies in the Chinese mega-city regions Pearl River Delta...

Economic City Branding in China: the Multi-Level Governance of Municipal Self-Promotion in the Greater Pearl River Delta

In the urban development policy in China, city brands play an important role in setting targets for Chinese cities. These economic city brands, however, are not produced in an institutional vacuum: they are embedded in the visions national, provincial and municipal governments have for these cities, i.e., on multi-level governance. In this paper...