The role of history in place marketing: Can branding create a sense of place?

摘要

Place marketing and branding is an increasingly prevalent practice for managers of cities to aid in attracting residents, investors and tourists and in differentiating cities and remaining viable in today's economy. The historic core of a city plays a meaningful role in its sense of place and authenticity. A city is a complex layered system incorporating diverse components, and the importance of sense of place is significant in identification with its brand. A brand should represent the unique facets of the city, not something stamped onto the city in the hope that the city will assume the brand's qualities. Residents of a historic city and a new urbanist community were found to appreciate similar features in their communities, but residents of the historic environment were able to create stories of a hypothetical past which were not present in the new urbanist community. European cities are reinventing themselves by attending to detail in the urban environment, including lighting, signage, movable elements and use of public spaces. A bottom-up approach to discovering the unique features of the city and user-centred spaces is advised. Allowing the brand to develop in a vernacular way provides an authentic representation of place and preserves the identity of the city and its people.