City branding
Strategies and Purposes in the City’s representation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62161/sauc.v12.6108Keywords:
City, Branding, Representation, Identity, Urban design, MarketingAbstract
Cities have historically served multiple purposes being demonstrations of power, symbols of progress and innovation, economic drivers, and laboratories for new forms of urban life.
In the last decades, the concept of city branding has introduced a significant shift: the city is no longer understood as a mere physical backdrop but as a bearer—whether inherent or attributed—of its own identity. This approach goes beyond tangible attributes such as buildings, façades, or urban design, and instead embraces cultural, social, and symbolic dimensions. Such a plural perspective becomes increasingly relevant in the context of rapid urbanization, the projected growth of megacities, the preference for cities, and the competitiveness between them.
This paper offers a concise overview of the evolution of city branding and presents representative cases, aiming to identify both common and differentiating parameters among existing models, their economic, social, or political objectives, as well as possible hierarchies and other insights emerging
Downloads
Global Statistics ℹ️
|
0
Views
|
0
Downloads
|
|
0
Total
|
|
References
AlShaalan, M. K., & Durugbo, C. M. (2024). City branding as innovation for tourism development: Systematic review of literature from 2011 to 2023. Management Review Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-024-00431-2
Anholt, S. (2007). Competitive identity: The new brand management for nations, cities and regions. Palgrave Macmillan.
Anholt, S. (2010). Places: Identity, image and reputation. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ashworth, G. J., & Kavaratzis, M. (2009). Beyond the logo: Brand management for cities. Journal of Brand Management, 16(8), 520–531. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.bm.2550133
Ashworth, G. J., & Voogd, H. (1990). Selling the city: Marketing approaches in public sector urban planning. Belhaven Press.
Avraham, E., & Ketter, E. (2008). Will we be safe there? Analysing strategies for altering unsafe place images. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 4(3), 196–204. https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2008.10
BBC. (2016, October 11). Italy withdraws Rome 2024 Olympic Games bid. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37624948
Bigas, M. (2020, March 4). I love NY, una historia de amor (y éxito). La Vanguardia.
Blanco-Gómez, M. L. (2024). Destination branding through images (marcas de destino y landmarks). VISUAL Review, 16(6), 165–177.
Bois, Y.-A., Cohen, J.-L., Hollier, D., & Krauss, R. (1999). A conversation with Jean-Louis Cohen. October, 89, 3–18.
Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). (n.d.). Home. https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/
Caballero, J. J. (2017, July 24). La Barcelona del 92: el urbanismo de la democracia. El Diario.es. https://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/barcelona-urbanismo-democracia_1_3270737.html
Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB). (2007). Architectures of fear: Terrorism and the future of urbanism in the West [Symposium proceedings]. CCCB. https://www.cccb.org/en/activities/file/architectures-of-fear-terrorism-and-the-future-of-urbanism-in-the-west/218493
Clay Large, D. (2012). Munich 1972: Tragedy, terror, and triumph at the Olympic Games. Rowman & Littlefield.
Coaffee, J., & Rogers, P. (2008). Reputational risk and resiliency: The branding of security in place-making. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 4(3), 205–217. https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2008.12
Coaffee, J., & Van Ham, P. (2008). Editorial: Security branding: The role of security in marketing the city, region or state. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 4(3), 191–195. https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2008.11
Davis, S. (2017, June). The Rio Olympics were a financial disaster and it keeps getting worse. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/rio-olympics-financial-disaster-2017-6
Dinnie, K. (2011). Branding cities: Cosmopolitanism, parochialism, and social change. Routledge.
El Messeidy, R. (2019). Architecture and city branding: Role of iconic buildings. Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, 66(4), 509–523.
Espy, R. (1979). The politics of the Olympic Games. University of California Press.
European Communities (2009). European Capitals of Culture: the road to success. From 1985 to 2010. Luxemburgo: European Communities. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/fa071382-d9c7-4581-b100-36dab62c3ba4/language-en. Consultado Septiembre 2025.
EURIB. (2009). The making of the city marketing of Amsterdam. https://www.eurib.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/The-making-of-the-city-marketing-of-Amsterdam.pdf
Evans, G. (2015). Rethinking Place Branding and Place Making Through Creative and Cultural Quarters. EM. En Kavaratzis et al. (eds.), Rethinking Place Branding, pp. 135-158. Springer International Publishing Swistzeland. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-12424-7_10
Florida, R. (2002). The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. Basic Books.
Gaggiotti, H., Cheng, P., & Yunak, O. (2008). City brand management (CBM): The case of Kazakhstan. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 4(2), 115–123.
García Martínez, A. (2023). La ciudad como espectáculo. Arquitectura, turismo y cultura urbana. Artigrama, (38), 203–222. Universidad de Zaragoza. https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/artigrama/article/view/10326
Gillis Garde, C. L. (2018). La gestión de la marca del lugar: City branding (Trabajo de Fin de Grado, Universidad Pontificia Comillas). Repositorio Institucional Comillas. https://repositorio.comillas.edu/xmlui/handle/11531/19041
Gómez Navas, J. S., & Salinas González, J. (2017). Investigar lo local: Reflexiones, métodos y casos de estudio. Comunicación integral en construcción de marcas ciudad: Aportes, tensiones y desafíos / Integral communication on citybrands making: Contributions, strains and challenges. Prisma Social: Revista de Investigación Social, (19), 36–69. Fundación iS+D para la Investigación Social Avanzada. https://revistaprismasocial.es/article/view/1744
Hanna, S., & Rowley, J. (2011). Towards a strategic place brand-management model. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(5–6), 458–476. https://doi.org/10.1080/02672571003683797
Jacobs, J. (1961). The death and life of great American cities. Random House.
Jacobs, J. (1969). The economy of cities. Random House.
Kaefer, F. (Entrevistador). (2019, April 5). Simon Anholt on Competitive Identity, the Good Country Equation. The Place Brand Observer. https://placebrandobserver.com/simon-anholt-interview/
Kavaratzis, M. (2004). From city marketing to city branding: Towards a theoretical framework for developing city brands. Place Branding, 1(1), 58–73. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.pb.5990005
Kavaratzis, M., & Ashworth, G. J. (2005). City branding: An effective assertion of identity or a transitory marketing trick? Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 96(5), 506–514.
Kavaratzis, M., & Ashworth, G. J. (2006). City branding: An effective assertion of identity or a transitory marketing trick? Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2, 183–194. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.pb.5990056
Kolotouchkina, O. (2018). Creatividad y la identidad cultural urbana: Experiencias destacadas en las ciudades contemporáneas. Revista Internacional de Cultura Visual, 5(1), 1–8. Global Knowledge Academics.
Kotler, P., Asplund, C., Rein, I., & Haider, H. D. (1999). Marketing places Europe: Attracting investments, industries and visitors to European cities, communities, regions and nations. Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Kotler, P., Haider, D., & Rein, I. (1993). Marketing places: Attracting investment, industry and tourism to cities, states and nations. The Free Press.
Lepeltier, N., & Azimi, R. (2024, September 5). How Paris 2024 transformed the capital's iconic landmarks into Olympic venues. Le Monde. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/09/05/how-paris-2024-transformed-the-capital-s-iconic-landmarks-into-olympic-venues_6724856_30.html
Le Point. (1983, December 5). Les chantiers du Président. Le Point, No. 585.
Liouris, C., & Deffner, A. (2005). City marketing – a significant planning tool for urban development in a globalised economy. European Regional Science Association, ERSA conference papers.
Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. (2025). Ayudas para proyectos de conservación, protección y difusión de bienes declarados Patrimonio Mundial. https://www.cultura.gob.es/cultura/areas/patrimonio/mc/patrimoniomundial/iniciativas/ayudas-para-bienes-declarados-patrimonio-mundial.html
Ministerio de Industria y Turismo. (2024, July 4). Hereu anuncia ayudas de 208 millones de euros a ayuntamientos y comunidades autónomas para 92 proyectos de mejora del patrimonio histórico con uso turístico (PRTR). Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia. https://planderecuperacion.gob.es/noticias/Hereu-anuncia-ayudas-208-millones-euros-ayuntamientos-comunidades-autonomas-92-proyectos-mejora-patrimonio-historico-uso-turistico-prtr
Morgan, N., Pritchard, A., & Pride, R. (2004). Destination branding: Creating the unique destination proposition. Routledge.
Olympics. (n.d.). Olympic values. International Olympic Committee. https://www.olympics.com/ioc/olympic-values
Papanikolaou, P. (2013). Athens 2004. Ten years later: The Olympic infrastructure, the Cultural Olympiad and the ‘White Elephant’ syndrome. Journal of Power, Politics & Governance, 1(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.15640/jppg
Seisdedos, I. (2014, 13 de diciembre). ‘Efecto Guggenheim’: así se hizo. El País. https://elpais.com/cultura/2014/12/13/actualidad/1418491974_521247.html
The Guardian. (2016, October 11). Italy suspends Rome's 2024 Olympic bid. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/11/italy-suspends-rome-2024-olympic-games-bid
Wallace, A., & Leeds Matthews, A. (2024, August 19). Hosting the Olympics has become financially untenable, economists say. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/26/economy/olympics-economics-paris-2024
Zenker, S., & Martin, N. (2015). City branding and its economic impacts on tourism. Economics and Sociology, 8(1), 119–126. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2015/8-1/9
Zimbalist, A. (2015). Circus maximus: The economic gamble behind hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. Brookings Institution
Zimbalist, A. (2016). Economic impact of the Olympic Games. En The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Springer. https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_2988-1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Authors retain copyright and transfer to the journal the right of first publication and publishing rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Those authors who publish in this journal accept the following terms:
-
Authors retain copyright.
-
Authors transfer to the journal the right of first publication. The journal also owns the publishing rights.
-
All published contents are governed by an Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Access the informative version and legal text of the license. By virtue of this, third parties are allowed to use what is published as long as they mention the authorship of the work and the first publication in this journal. If you transform the material, you may not distribute the modified work. -
Authors may make other independent and additional contractual arrangements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in this journal (e.g., inclusion in an institutional repository or publication in a book) as long as they clearly indicate that the work was first published in this journal.
- Authors are allowed and recommended to publish their work on the Internet (for example on institutional and personal websites), following the publication of, and referencing the journal, as this could lead to constructive exchanges and a more extensive and quick circulation of published works (see The Effect of Open Access).
