In a globalizing world, cities find themselves competing more and more for the likes of visitors, residents, investors, and companies. Simultaneously, cities may attempt to ignite synergies by working together with other cities in the region. Two core concepts of the place branding domain, image and identity, are central to this situation. Cities position themselves according to a brand identity, the desired image in the mind of people. The actual image is what drives people towards places. Many studies have tried to measure the image accordingly, while neglecting the regional context of cities and a comparison with brand identity. The main research question is: What is the theoretical and empirical relation between the image and identity of cities in a polycentric context? A design approach is used to create a tool that is able to measure and analyse image networks for polycentric regions. A method from the field of marketing, the brand concept map, is adjusted to serve the nature of this research. Subsequently, a case study of the Metropolitan region Rotterdam The Hague illustrates the use of the Polycentric brand concept map (P-BCM). The P-BCM is developed in line with the traditional stages of concept mapping (elicitation, mapping and aggregation) and an additional fourth stage (analysis). Application results in visual and quantitative insights, useful for both place brand managers and the scientific domain of place branding.