The 1970’s were a dark time for New York City. While the economy was down, crime rates were at an all-time high. The negative public image also kept tourists away, driving the city into a financial crisis. To change perceptions about The Big Apple, the New York State Department for Economic Development approached advertising firm Wells Rich Greene to create an inviting marketing operation. After 45 years, the resulting I Love NY campaign remains fresh in the minds of locals and tourists, successfully revamping New York City’s brand. Cities across the world like Paris, Amsterdam and Jerusalem have similarly invested heavily in constructing magnetic brands for themselves.
Branding is a tool primarily used in business and marketing to help people identify, and fabricate a perception of a company, an individual or a product. The same concept can be extended to places by applying branding techniques to the economic, political and cultural development of geographical locations. Under the umbrella term place branding, mental images and perceptions of nations, states and cities can strategically be projected. Through branding, a city can be transformed into a place people want to live, work, and visit.
Plenty of factors come together to make a good brand for a city. Defining and distinctive characters in the built environment make a place easily identifiable and well differentiated from other cities. Residents’ experiences and beliefs of the city, the local communities and the core values of the city build on a unique image that lives in the minds of people. Strong commercial brands and city brands share features like history, quality of place, lifestyle, culture, and diversity in common.
What constitutes a city’s brand and identity is the image of the city - the sense of identity, well-being and belonging among citizens. These concepts form the basis of memory systems that steer attention and make a place memorable. Placemaking efforts contribute to the image by bolstering a sense of place and connection with the local community. City branding seeks to attract resources to the city to ensure quality of place. It is a reflection of how citizens view their cities, and how the city wishes to be perceived externally.
Most cities that go through an effective branding or rebranding campaign witness citizens and tourists refreshed with a strengthened sense of pride for the city. A brand helps position a city in a captivating manner to invite tourism, business ventures and investors. The soul of the city is translated into a set of strategic interventions - as a branding campaign or a landmark design - to tell the story of the place. City branding also invites opportunities for flagship projects, which can aid in urban and economic renewal. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Sydney Opera House are examples of transformational architecture projects that fabricated positive images of their cities.
In times of globalization, a strong brand is a valuable asset that gives cities a competitive advantage over others. Maintaining a good reputation allows cities to compete for an increase in investment by public and private sectors, drawing in capital and human resources. Urban planning and management frameworks must be set in place to enhance the city’s image, and a brand would help councils plan development around a core idea.
Architecture is as integral to branding as branding is to architecture. In recent years, cities such as Bilbao, Shanghai and Dubai have utilized architecture as a tool to enhance their image and exclusively position themselves in a global village. Innovative building designs expressed in a local architectural language attempt to redefine urban, regional and national identities. In this light, architects are challenged with representing the heterogeneity of places.
Cities - unlike commercial entities - are more complex, dynamic and multidimensional in their identities. While Paris may popularly be considered as the ‘city of love’ and Hong Kong remembered for trade, it remains difficult to encapsulate the entirety of a city’s perception through a single concept. Commercial brand strategies are successfully built with a target market - a group of consumers with a similar demographic - in mind. When branding a city, it becomes important to question which communities the brand represents, or fails to represent.
Place branding brings immense opportunities for architects to catalyze change in the built environment. The industry might creatively employ branding to promote cultural values and ideals in urban development schemes, keeping city-marketing efforts in consideration. To brand a city, architecture is viewed as an integrated part of economic development, technological advancements and social changes. A successful city brand will live in the hearts of citizens, telling their collective stories to the world.
