The Bottom-up Place Branding of a Neighborhood: Analyzing a Case of Selective Empowerment

This article analyzes the entanglement of social impacts of bottom-up urban branding processes on local hyperdiverse communities, through an ethnography of a neighborhood of Milan recently named by a group of residents as “NoLo.” Indeed, existing literature has broadly investigated urban rebranding as a tool used by policy makers to foster social change and economic capital, imposing top-down transformations. Nevertheless, a gap in the bottom-up place rebranding processes exists. We inspect it through the aforementioned case study and by combining place branding literature, the loss of place identity and theories on empowerment. Empirically, we analyze the socioeconomic processes and the actors that enabled the rebranding, discussing the positive externalities and the criticalities in terms of marginalization of weaker social groups and cultural hegemony. As for the theory, we contribute to the literature arguing that a bottom-up process is not enough to avoid a loss of place identity, as it can lead to selective empowerment.

The role of urban branding to attract foreign tourists

In today's world, Abstract City-marketing and urban-branding strategies play an essential role in the tourism industry. Tourism activists compete with each other to attract more tourists to their attractions. In promoting a touristic attraction, branding, both physical and spiritual aspects are crucial. Developing tourism infrastructures, built heritage, iconic architecture is essential as well as reinforcement of historical references, an attractive way of life, or cultural values. Since Certain cities are attracting all of the assets and the attention, while others are becoming more or less invisible, one of the critical prerequisites for the success of cities is their overall image, or so-called „city branding.“ In this research, we tried to investigate the urban branding of Kerman-a touristic and historical city located in the south of Iran- and its role in attracting foreign tourists toward this destination. After gathering data through library and field studies and analyzing data, we come to this result that urban branding has a crucial role in attracting foreign tourists to this town. The out coming from the subsidiary hypothesis tests showed that the six aspects of branding effects on attracting tourists. Our results could be useful for promoting Kerman tourism attractions.

From a Barrio Chino Urban Stigma to the Raval Cultural Brand: Urban Memory and Cultural Policies in the Renewal of Central Barcelona

Barcelona, and especially, its historic center, has undergone a profound transformation from an industrial city to a global tourism and services center. Some authors insist on the destructive nature of the urban regeneration of the historic Barcelona district of Raval as a process of de-identification of the city center or as an intentional falsification of its identity to turn it into a tourist space. However, as we discuss in this article, urban branding and urban change projects should address not only the infrastructural issues of transformation, but also the development of new urban branding based on recreating a memory of the place. Thus, in the case of Raval, the urban and cultural planning led by the local government and the development of cultural institutions took place as part of the construction and revitalization of the identity of the neighborhood from that of a barrio chino red-light district stigma to one of a new cultural quarter.

‘Green’ Building as an Urban Branding Tool: The Israeli Example

Over the last two decades, greenhouse gas abatement through energy conservation has become a major goal in developed countries. This challenges the building sector to become more environmentally responsible and resource-efficient, especially since it represents a large potential source of energy savings. In recognition of the benefits of green building, an increasing number of countries are devising green strategies for both public and private sector construction. Studies have examined the construction cost “premium” involved in achieving green certification, suggesting that the additional costs are relatively low, around 2% on average. Evidence indicates, however, that “green premia” in terms of rental and sales prices of properties in certified green buildings are systematically higher than 2%. Thus, making ‘green’ buildings affordable to sectors of the population which “need” it the most, will likely depend on government funding.

Systematic creation of a city’s visual communication: logo design based on the phoenix flower in Tainan City, Taiwan

This study considers the urban branding of Tainan City, Taiwan. It explores how the city’s image continues its historical cultural milieu through the creation of a visual identity from the phoenix flower. The study analyzes a selection of logos used by organizations in the city, and the semiotic significance of organizational logos. From a sample of 67 logos, the form and content of the visual symbols are interpreted via morphological, content, and semiotic analyses. The logos are also categorized based on the following design features: pervasive symbols, cultural elements, typeface design, industrial embodiment, human body, decorative aids, and graphic design enhancement. Research indicates that Tainan uses the phoenix flower shape for design expression in logos, but because of a lack of uniformity in design norms, the logos are inconsistent. Therefore, standardization of the phoenix flower design used within the city environment would assist the Tainan city branding.