Place Branding and the Creative Economy: Graz as a UNESCO City of Design

Master’s Thesis

Postgraduate Studies Sustainable Urban and Regional Development

for the academic degree of Master of Natural Science (MSc)

at the University of Graz

submitted by Michael BODNER BSc

at the Department of Geography and Regional Science

Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Dr.phil Ulrich Ermann

Graz, September 2013 Statutory Declaration

I, Michael Bodner, hereby declare that this master’s thesis has been written independently and without assistance from third parties. Furthermore, I confirm that no sources have been used in the preparation of this thesis other than those indicated in the thesis itself.

Graz, September 25 th , 2013

…………………………… Michael Bodner

- 2 - Preface

The year 2012 and my exchange semester at the York University of Toronto, Canada, had a substantial influence on my decision of writing a thesis on place branding. It was a seminar about urban geography and related fieldwork in the streets of Toronto which raised my particular interest for the topic of how cities are marketed and communicated, in which way this is relevant to urban policy and which kind of impacts it may have for a city’s economic, social and cultural development. Furthermore, the seminar also offered a closer consideration of creative city approaches, the idea of the creative class and the relevance of “creativity” to urban social policies.

Shortly after my return to Graz I was about to choose a topic for my master’s thesis. I decided to deepen my just acquired knowledge in city marketing and simultaneously to broaden my view through an investigation of city branding. Interestingly, officials of the city of Graz had recently introduced the theme of a UNESCO City of Design in order to “brand” Graz as a creative city and as an attractive and innovative location. The case of Graz therefore offered a practical example for me to investigate marketing and branding strategies in a European medium-sized city.

I chose the case of Graz in particular as its recent creative city strategy has not yet been analysed in detail. Furthermore, the specific designation of a UNESCO City of Design has not yet been explored as a case of place branding and thus, I was able to offer a new thematic insight into city marketing and city branding.

For this reason, this thesis considers branding strategies linked to creative city approaches which are aimed to establish a distinct place image for Graz, namely that of a UNESCO City of Design.

Enjoy your reading!

Michael Bodner

- 3 - Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors Ulrich Ermann and Annalisa Colombino of the Department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, for their encouragement and confidence. I am particularly grateful for Annalisa’s feedback and support throughout my research which made this thesis possible in the first place.

Many people in Graz contributed considerably to this thesis by sharing their experiences and viewpoints with me. Special thanks must go to the following people and their related companies/institutions who agreed to participate in my research as informants: Daniel Bauer (Shot Shot Shot ); Mike Fuisz ( moodley brand identity ); Ernst Giselbrecht ( Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner ); Heimo Lercher ( I-Punkt ); Iris Kastner ( kwirl ); Martin Krammer ( KMDCC ); Almudena Nagu; Andrea Pavlovec-Meixner ( Green Party ); Johanna Prechtl; Mario Rampitsch ( En Garde ); Lisa Rücker ( Green Party ); Gerhard Rüsch ( ÖVP ); Peter Sablatnig (Bene ); Eberhard Schrempf ( CIS ); Karl Stocker ( FH Joanneum ); Stefan Unger (wmnt ); Mario Weiss ( Trigon ).

I also would like to thank my friend Michaela who provided final inputs to this thesis. I am particularly grateful to my closest friends for all the fun we had together, keeping me happy and relaxed at all times. Most of all, I would like to thank Leila for her encouragement, passion, love and for always being there. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family.

Without the support of all of you it would have been impossible to complete this thesis.

Thank you!

- 4 - Abstract

This thesis explores contemporary place branding approaches through a study of Graz’s positioning as a UNESCO City of Design. The city government of Graz has recently introduced the theme of a City of Design in order to establish a distinct and innovative place image and to communicate Graz as a creative city. The aim of this thesis is therefore to investigate how the City of Design brand is strategically implemented by local city marketers, how the creative class as a specific target audience perceives this process and in which ways the branding may affect the city’s overall development.

Through a combination of interviews which I conducted with local image producers (i.e. stakeholders involved in the branding) as well as with representatives of the local creative economy and an analysis of the collected data where I applied selected techniques of discourse analysis I suggest that the branding of Graz is perceived as a long-term strategy which can be a stimulus for inducing sustainable urban development processes. For this reason, my exploration encourages the reader to consider place branding not exclusively as a marketing tool which aims to facilitate a place’s popularity but to discuss it as a comprehensive process which addresses a multitude of urban issues. Branding – as the City of Design theme suggests – may induce new discourses on urban economic development, urban social policies and the efficient planning of the built environment.

With this thesis I contribute to further explore place branding as an increasingly popular approach to place marketing. Furthermore, I provide new insights into potential city branding themes as the designation of a UNESCO City of Design has not yet been explored as a case of branding. The thesis further discusses how local city marketers seek to communicate Graz as both a “UNESCO Creative City” and a “UNESCO World Cultural Heritage” in order to establish a distinct brand image amongst a multitude of creative city approaches worldwide.

- 5 - Contents

List of Abbreviations...... 9 1. Introduction ...... 10 1.1. Place branding and the creative economy: towards an exploration of Graz’s contemporary branding ...... 10 1.2. Selection of the case study ...... 12 1.3. Structure of the thesis...... 13 2. A Theoretical Approach to Place Marketing and Place Branding...... 16 2.1. Introduction ...... 16 2.2. Marketing and branding ...... 16 2.3. Is economic branding theory applicable to place branding concepts? ...... 21 2.4. Place marketing and place branding...... 23 2.5. Conclusion...... 34 3. The Creative City ...... 37 3.1. Introduction ...... 37 3.2. The notion of “creativity” ...... 37 3.3. The relevance of creativity in city marketing...... 38 3.4. Florida’s creative class and related counterarguments...... 41 3.5. Creative industries...... 43 3.6. Conclusion...... 45 4. The City of Graz: Culture, Creativity and the UNESCO City of Design Theme .... 47 4.1. Introduction ...... 47 4.2. The city of Graz...... 47 4.3. The multiple marketed images of Graz ...... 49 4.4. Cultural and creative topics in urban and regional development plans...... 51 4.5. Creative roots in Graz and the path towards being a City of Design ...... 57 4.6. The creative economy of Graz ...... 59 4.7. UNESCO Creative Cities Network...... 62 4.8. UNESCO City of Design ...... 64 4.9. Conclusion...... 66 5. Methodology ...... 68 5.1. Introduction ...... 68 5.2. Research questions ...... 68

- 6 - 5.3. Preparations...... 69 5.4. Fieldwork ...... 71 5.5. Analysing Graz’s representation as a UNESCO City of Design ...... 76 5.6. Conclusion...... 80 6. Brand Identity and Communication Strategies: Graz as a UNESCO City of Design...... 82 6.1. Introduction ...... 82 6.2. What is the City of Design to its image producers?...... 82 6.3. Strategic communication of the City of Design vision ...... 88 6.4. Structural weaknesses ...... 96 6.5. Conclusion...... 99 7. Brand Image: Graz as a UNESCO City of Design...... 102 7.1. Introduction ...... 102 7.2. Graz as a City of Design… qualified or not? ...... 102 7.3. Exposing perceived potentials of the City of Design...... 106 7.4. Aspects of internal and external perceptions...... 111 7.5. Considering structural obstacles for the City of Design ...... 114 7.6. Perceived impacts for representatives of the local creative economy...... 118 7.7. Conclusion...... 122 8. Conclusion...... 125 8.1. Introduction ...... 125 8.2. Branding is a means of creating deeply-rooted, distinct place images ...... 125 8.3. “City of Design” and creative industries can be stimuli for urban development...... 128 8.4. Place images can be appealing and irritating at the same time ...... 131 8.5. Conclusion...... 132 9. Bibliography ...... 134 9.1. Literature ...... 134 9.2. Internet sources ...... 144 9.3. Interviews...... 149 Appendix 1: List of interviews with actors involved in the branding of Graz as a UNESCO City of Design...... 150 Appendix 2: List of interviews with creative workers of Graz ...... 152

- 7 - Illustrations & Maps

Fig. 1.1.: The location of Graz in Austria ...... 12 Fig. 2.1.: Target audiences in place marketing and place branding...... 26 Fig. 2.2.: Key terms in (place) branding ...... 29 Fig. 4.1.: Impressions of the city of Graz, Austria...... 48 Fig. 4.2.: Logo Creative Industries Styria ...... 57 Fig. 4.3.: Eberhard Schrempf, CEO of the Creative Industries Styria ...... 57 Fig. 4.4.: Main markets of creative industries of the Greater Graz area with regard to their central service/product ...... 60 Fig. 4.5.: Self-employed and employed people in the creative economy in 2006: the Greater Graz area compared to the urban regions of Linz-Wels and Vienna ...... 61 Fig. 4.6.: Styrian NUTS-3 regions and their share of total employees and creative employees in the Styrian economy in % ...... 61 Fig. 4.7.: Nominal gross value added (for cost of manufacture) in 2006, indicated in million € or shares in % ...... 62 Fig. 4.8.: Logo Graz UNESCO City of Design ...... 65 Fig. 4.9.: The eleven UNESCO Cities of Design (by September 2013)...... 66 Fig. 6.1.: Public information campaign “City of Design zu sein heißt, …” (“Being a City of Design means …”) ...... 89 Fig. 6.2.: “Graz UNESCO City of Design” -foils, seen at shop windows in Graz’s city centre ...... 90 Fig. 6.3.: Redesign the Market – project at Designmonat 2013...... 91 Fig. 6.4.: A glance of the City Guide Graz ...... 93 Fig. 7.1.: Design von GRA-Z: street furniture for public space...... 116 Fig. 7.2.: Some outputs of Designmonat 2013...... 119 Fig. 7.3.: SunnyBAG – official present of the UNESCO City of Design Graz ...... 119 Fig. 7.4.: Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft (Adventure World Economy) – making the economic performance of Styrian companies transparent and understandable...... 120

- 8 - List of Abbreviations

AMA American Marketing Association

DCMS British Department for Culture, Media and Sport

CIS Creative Industries Styria

FH Fachhochschule; University of Applied Sciences

FPÖ Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs; Freedom Party of Austria

ÖVP Österreichische Volkspartei; Austrian People’s Party

SFG Steirische Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft; Styrian Business Promotion Agency

SPÖ Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs; Social Democratic Party of Austria

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

- 9 - 1. Introduction

In this first chapter I want to explain the purpose of my thesis on Place branding and the creative economy: Graz as a UNESCO City of Design . I therefore discuss why I explore the topics of place branding and the creative economy and why I have chosen the city of Graz as a case study. Furthermore, in this chapter I illustrate the detailed structure of this thesis.

1.1. Place branding and the creative economy: towards an exploration of Graz’s contemporary branding This thesis offers an empirical study of Graz’s designation as a UNESCO City of Design. The local government as well as other stakeholders in the city of Graz, Austria’s second largest agglomeration, currently aim to bring the City of Design theme closer to the general public and to develop it as a successful case of city branding in the long-term. The creative scene and creative industries of Graz hold a central role in this respect because they are both potential audiences as well as significant actors within the City of Design positioning.

Thus, I aim to explore why “Graz UNESCO City of Design” can be understood as a place branding process and how this process affects Graz’s overall development. In order to do so I approach Graz’s recent branding process from three different perspectives which lead to the following research questions:

RQ 1: What is the City of Design to its image producers? RQ 2: Which strategies are adopted to communicate the City of Design vision? RQ 3: How do creative people perceive Graz as a City of Design?

With these questions in mind, I consider the City of Design process of Graz from two empirical angles. On the one hand, I offer an analysis of a series of interviews with the “supply side”, namely the producers of Graz’s City of Design image. I use the term “image producers” to include public officials, consultants and other local stakeholders who have or had an official function or any other kind of direct relationship to the City of Design branding. The purpose of these interviews was to investigate the first two research questions. I aimed to investigate how the informants understood the City of Design theme and to explore how these key actors strategically approached the implementation of the branding process. Simultaneously, I offer an analysis of the “demand side”, namely a sample of representatives

- 10 - of the creative class of Graz. The interviews I conducted with some of Graz’s creative workers helped me to attempt to offer an answer to my third research question, namely how creative workers encounter Graz’s recent image as a City of Design.

The three research questions are designed to analyse the “Graz UNESCO City of Design“ brand in three particular ways: first, the analysis highlights the main aspects of how city branding is implemented locally in Graz; second, it shows if the communicated brand is encountered in a way as intended by city marketers or differently. It therefore shows if the brand implementation does work effectively or if there are any problems and weaknesses; third, the analysis aims at showing if the brand is perceived rather positively or negatively ∗ locally, and if the brand tends to be endorsed or rejected by the local creative class.

For the last three decades there has been a growing academic interest in exploring place promotion and related activities such as place marketing and branding. In order to attract different kinds of target audiences (visitors and investors), the communication of beneficial place images is increasingly professionalised and regarded as a key to differentiate and to position places such as cities, regions and nations in relation to their competitors. Over the last fifteen years the idea of place branding has started to be theorised and implemented as a tool for creating and nurturing place-images and strategically communicating them to defined target groups. It is investigated by academics, including geographers, and is globally applied ∗∗ by place marketers such as city governments.

A multitude of scholars suggest that particularly city branding is frequently adopted as a tool to deeply root positive place associations in the minds of target groups (Rainisto 2003; Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005; Aitken and Campelo 2011). City branding concepts worldwide tend to adopt especially the notion of “creativity” and to pursue creative city strategies in order to establish prominent and innovative forms of place representation (Stevenson 2003; García 2004; Zenker 2009). However, very few scholars who elaborated on the branding of creative cities put a specific interest on themes which are commited to “design” (e.g. Rantisi and Leslie 2006; Julier 2008). Furthermore, very little research has been done on the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and its sub-networks such as the UNESCO Cities of Design, not least because of the recent character of these networks. Most

∗ The reason why I “limit” this thesis to the creative class is explained in more detail in chapter 5 (methods). ∗∗ This is proved for instance by the emergence of the Journal of Branding and Public Diplomacy.

- 11 - interestingly, no official publication has analysed the theme “UNESCO City of Design” as a case of branding in specific yet.

1.2. Selection of the case study I have chosen Graz as a case study to analyse how the branding as a UNESCO City of Design can be approached in practice.

Graz is a medium-sized city with about 270,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Austrian ∗ province of Styria. It has been the first and, so far, it is the only Austrian city designated as a UNESCO Creative City and as a UNESCO City of Design (March 14 th , 2011).

Fig. 1.1.: The location of Graz in Austria Map edited by Michael Bodner; Source: GIS Land Steiermark 2013

The positioning of Graz as a City of Design represents a good case study to investigate contemporary place branding processes. An exploration of Graz’s recent promotional strategies shows both aspects of promotional marketing and of awareness-raising campaigns, designed to convince and persuade a variety of target groups of the importance of “design” for urban development processes. It also shows different strategies of communicating the brand to domestic and international markets. Graz as a City of Design is developed by a multitude of actors – municipal and regional policy-makers, consultants, stakeholders of the local

∗ I offer a brief introduction of Graz in section 4.2.

- 12 - economy and even scholars of design-related educational programmes – and therefore it is an excellent case study to explore how image-making entails a contested process that involves a multiplicity of stakeholders.

Furthermore, I have particularly chosen Graz as object of research because its orientation as a creative city is a quite recent phenomenon that city officials adopted and has not yet been analysed in detail. The same counts for the positioning as a City of Design. The case of Graz also reveals that the European Capital of Culture initiative, implemented in Graz in 2003, had a profound impact on the subsequently emerging creative discourse amongst public officials, resulting in the application to become a UNESCO Creative City.

Last but not least, there is also a personal reason for my choice: I have been a citizen of Graz for about six years. Thus, from the very beginning of my research project, I have already had a good understanding of local urban development processes, of the local political structures and of the urban fabric.

1.3. Structure of the thesis The two following chapters (chapters 2 and 3) provide the main theoretical basis I adopt throughout this thesis. Chapter 2 offers a review of theoretical approaches to place marketing and place branding. I discuss how place images are created and why it is important to explore how diverse audiences perceive place-marketing images. In this chapter I particularly focus on city branding because the subsequent chapters elaborate on creative city approaches and more specifically, Graz’s approach to become a City of Design.

In chapter 3 I offer both a brief theoretical discussion of the topic of “creativity” and a literature review on the creative city. City marketers of Graz do not just aim to communicate Graz as a City of Design but more generally, as a creative city and as a place of innovation. I therefore show that creative city approaches have gained a worldwide popularity in city marketing and city branding. I particularly discuss the popular assumptions of Richard Florida’s (2002) creative class and why it has been criticised. Furthermore I briefly highlight Charles Landry’s (2000) approach on the creative city because, as I will show in chapter 6, it is relevant to the city of Graz’s promotional activities. As public officials in Graz and Styria define creative industries as interdisciplinary organisations with a central role in Graz’s

- 13 - economic development, chapter 3 further elaborates on the notions of “creative industries” and the “creative economy” and illustrates their role in city marketing.

Chapter 4 provides an introduction of the city of Graz and its differently marketed images. I discuss Graz’s image as a city of culture and why it recently aims to embed the image of a creative city in its marketing activities. Furthermore, I discuss how and why Graz applied to become designated as a UNESCO City of Design. The chapter also shows that urban and regional development plans are closely connected to each other in order to position Graz and Styria as creative “hot spots”. Additionally, with a brief introduction of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and the UNESCO City of Design sub-network I offer basic information to illustrate Graz as a City of Design more closely in chapters 6 and 7.

Chapter 5 provides an account of the methodology I employed to explore Graz’s recent branding activities. I offer a discussion of the fieldwork I have conducted between March and May 2013. I also describe how I adopted different elements of discourse analysis in order to analyse the collected data and to answer my research questions.

Chapter 6 is the first of two empirical chapters of this thesis and is dedicated to offer an answer to the research questions 1 and 2, namely how the City of Design theme is understood by Graz’s image producers and how they strategically implement the City of Design theme in Graz and abroad. The chapter is therefore based on interviews I conducted with these key actors. I offer insights to the way how informants understand “design” and why this notion is of particular relevance to Graz’s image. I also outline how the brand identity of Graz as a City of Design can be described. Furthermore, I discuss how local place marketers adopt different communication strategies to present Graz as a City of Design to local audiences and to audiences abroad.

In chapter 7 I offer an answer to my third research question, namely how people of the creative class perceive Graz as a City of Design. Furthermore, I also discuss how the brand image of Graz as a City of Design can be described and if the branding process tends to be perceived rather positively or negatively. I offer accounts of praise and criticism in order to reflect the partly controversial discourse amongst creative industries on the positioning of Graz as a creative city.

- 14 - In chapter 8 I provide some concluding remarks on the branding process of Graz as a City of Design. I therefore highlight the most important findings of this thesis and how they can be put into relation to existing literature on marketing, branding and creative city approaches. I particularly argue that city marketers of Graz and elsewhere adopt place branding strategies in order to deeply root positive place images in the minds of audiences. Furthermore, I reflect on why the notion of “creativity” and its appearance through creative industries is relevant to urban development processes. Besides, I argue that a branded place image such as “Graz UNESCO City of Design” can simultaneously be endorsed and provoke irritation amongst local audiences.

- 15 - 2. A Theoretical Approach to Place Marketing and Place Branding

2.1. Introduction In this chapter I discuss the theoretical principles I will adopt throughout this thesis to analyse Graz’s branding as a “UNESCO City of Design”. The approach applied by practitioners to brand places in general and cities in particular is highly sophisticated and has a multilayered character that goes well beyond the mere adoption of advertising campaigns and other visible promotional activities. For this reason I begin with a reflection of what marketing and branding means from a general economic viewpoint in section 2.2. Subsequently, section 2.3. considers whether the economic branding theory is also applicable to the branding of places. Place marketing and place branding as facilitating frameworks for the communication and representation of place identities, place images and city branding strategies to attract defined target audiences are the central topics of section 2.4. Section 2.5. provides completing aspects of this chapter concerning the consideration of place marketing and place branding in relation to Graz as a UNESCO City of Design.

2.2. Marketing and branding Place marketing and place branding are sophisticated topics of how place marketers, such as municipal governments, approach the establishment of unique and distinctive place representations. In order to discuss how and why places in general and cities in particular are communicated as place brands it is important to consider the underlying notions of marketing and branding and in which way economic marketing and branding theory is significant regarding the adoption of place branding.

2.2.1. Marketing In order to provide a practical definition of marketing I first consult the American Marketing Association’s (AMA) dictionary as it provides the most frequently quoted definition in literature. The AMA – apart from being a business-oriented body – provides scientific research and is one of the most significant organisations for scholars in the field of marketing. AMA journals are common resources and AMA conferences are attended by a considerable number of academics (Gundlach 2006, p. 105). This organisation defines marketing as follows:

- 16 - […] the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large (AMA 2013a).

This definition considers marketing as a toolkit to promote and popularise certain goods and/or services in order to convince specific target groups to buy it. Runia et al. (2011, p. 4) argue that marketing is a form of business management which is deliberately market-oriented. This implies that one’s entrepreneurial activities are adjusted to meet the needs of customers in order to fulfil defined business targets. Strategic marketing also includes the positioning of a company as a whole including its offered products on the market, particularly through the differentiation to its competitors (Runia et al. 2011, pp. 4; 9).

Kotler (1997, p. 90) considers marketing as comprehensive process and explains the term with three central arguments: first, marketing seeks to identify needs and wants of potential customers, or in other words it seeks to identify realistic market opportunities; second, a strategic approach is necessary to ensure purposeful marketing activities. This requires a careful management of the marketing process; third, consistent marketing programs are necessary to strongly position a product and make it distinctive (Kotler 1997, p. 90).

Kavaratzis (2004, p. 58) argues that marketing techniques get increasingly adopted in the management of places. This means that for instance administrative bodies of cities make use of the principles of marketing to generate an added value for their respective places and their assets. He also highlights the notion of branding as being closely connected to marketing (Kavaratzis 2004, p. 58). The following subsection therefore introduces the basic idea of branding which is essential to further discuss marketing and branding applied to places such as the city of Graz.

2.2.2. Brand and branding There is a wide range of definitions and approaches to define what a brand is. It, for instance, depends on whether a brand is defined by its characteristics or by its purpose. Furthermore, it also depends on whether the term is described from a consumer’s perspective or from a brand owner’s viewpoint (Wood 2000, p. 664). I use the definitions of Bennett (1998) and Andersson (2010) to provide introductory aspects on brands and branding. Bennett’s description of the term brand is frequently mentioned as one of the most common definitions:

- 17 - A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers (Bennett 1998, in: Wood, 2000, p. 664).

One way of seeing a brand is as a conceptual entity that creates positive, unique and distinguishable associations, and branding involves creating and maintaining these associations (Andersson 2010, p. 7).

Bennett’s definition which can be seen above has already been published in its basic character by the AMA in the 1960s. However, it did not include the phrase “any other feature” which is why the definition has often been criticised for describing a brand exclusively as a tangible visual tool, such as a symbol or a specific design (Arnold 1992 and Crainer 1995, in: Wood 2000, p. 664). Wood (2000, p. 664) endorses Bennett’s supplementing phrase “any other feature” as more practical since it allows a wider range of factors which may differentiate a brand compared to another. What this revised definition in particular allows is to regard also intangible features as points of differentiation – for example the image of a brand (Wood 2000, p. 664). Andersson (2010, p. 7) clarifies with his definition that branding is a strategic approach and its purpose is to gain a positive reputation for a marketed brand. He stresses that the creation of desirable associations, namely the creation or adaption of a positive image, requires consistent long-term visions and actions and requires much more than creating a new slogan or replacing a logo.

Both definitions, as academic literature in general, reveal that brands are first and foremost connected with identification, differentiation and positioning (Hankinson and Cowking 1993; Wood 2000; Gertner and Kotler 2002; Aaker 2004; Ashworth and Kavaratzis 2009). Hankinson and Cowking (1993, p. 10) adopt a product-oriented approach by characterising a brand as product or service which creates a differentiation on the market and has a personality in the sense of a specific image. Personality refers to the interplay of functional characteristics of the brand and symbolic features that are connected with it. Particularly interesting from a geographical viewpoint is the characterisation of brands by Pike (2009, p. 619). He argues that brands and branding processes – regardless if we speak of the branding of places or goods/services – is a matter of geographical research as brands are entangled in manifold spatial associations.

- 18 - Simon Anholt (2005, p. 117), policy-advisor and researcher with an economical focus, describes branding in two ways. From a one-dimensional viewpoint a brand refers to a shaped visible identity, for instance a logo or a slogan. Thus, it is a limited consideration of branding which refers to the way how an enterprise “dresses” (Anholt 2005, p. 117) itself or its products or services. This visible “dress” includes the design and the function and therefore communicates the tangible personality of the offering. Yet, Anholt stresses that branding is of a higher complexity which goes beyond this one-dimensional approach. Branding is a process which encompasses corporate visions and strategies, internal and external communication, ethics, consumer perceptions and behaviour of involved actors. This assumption implies that the intangible features of a brand – such as perceived values, conscious and unconscious mental associations, aspects of lifestyle, the enterprise’s reputation and even the behaviour of its staff – become crucial in an increasingly uniform market where functional and visible characteristics are increasingly homogenous. With this advanced understanding of branding Simon Anholt claims that a company and its brand will just succeed and gain a competitive advantage if the involved actors (the employer, employees and other stakeholders) identify themselves to a certain extent with the brand. In that sense, branding from an exclusively economical viewpoint may be considered as a comprehensive concept of business organisation (Anholt 2005, p. 117).

Stigel and Frimann (2006, p. 245) offer a further viewpoint on brands. They consider a product as branded when it extends the purely functional value and reaches a cognitive- emotional dimension. The consumer’s interaction with the brand – purchase, consumption and “living with” the product – bears a certain emotional experience which can be conscious and unconscious. Through this ongoing interaction the consumer’s mind develops a specific identification with it and links the brand with perceived values. In other words, a brand enters a mental sphere and is not simply assessed due to its functional features. Hence, even though a brand is developed by a business owner and its strategic appearance is in the control of this owner, branding remains outside of this immediate control due to its place in the consumer’s sphere (Anholt 2010, p. 7). That is also why “emotional branding”, a consumer-oriented approach to invigorate ties between audiences and brands, gained greater attention among branding paradigms in recent years (Thompson et al. 2006, p. 50).

Rainisto (2003, pp. 43-44) states that strategic branding is a particular part of marketing. Yet, in contrast to marketing, branding does not centre on direct promotional efforts. Branding

- 19 - points to the step by step developing associations a brand experiences over time. Likewise Anholt (2010, pp. 2-10) explains that “classic” marketing is characterized by visible efforts to promote an offering, such as advertising, while branding refers to the associated psychological and often indirect process that concerns audiences:

Branding, in other words, is a process that goes on largely in the mind of the consumer – the accumulation of respect and liking for the brand – and cannot be seen as a single technique or set of techniques that directly builds respect or liking (Anholt 2010, p. 10).

I want to illustrate this with a practical example. Anholt (2010, pp. 9-10) explains branding by using the example of the sports company Nike. According to him, saying that Nike has an excellent reputation due to excellent branding would be incorrect because this statement uses the term branding as all-encompassing tool of concrete marketing actions. In fact, Nike achieved its excellent image through the production of high-quality sports products, through incredibly high sales figures and through strategic communication techniques to arouse and shape identification with the values of the Nike enterprise. However, Anholt claims that promotional tools and communication activities like PR, product design and advertising need to be identified as “marketing”, “marketing communication” or “promotional activities” but not as branding. Branding is not a concrete toolkit to create sympathy and respect for an enterprise. Marketing communications that arouse interest for goods/services is just one of the starting points of branding. Created interest induces sales and subsequently, the consumer “experiences” the product and develops certain perceptions and forms of identification with the products and the enterprise. If this is consequently shared over time and followed by positive connections than we may call the process “branding” (Anholt 2010, pp. 9-10). This means that branding is to a large extent an

[…] indirect process [that] can sometimes be enhanced by public relations – by influencing the media in such a way as to reinforce the sense that the consumer experience is positive and shared – but this is no short cut to changed perceptions (Anholt 2010, p. 10).

I consider this basic understanding of brands and branding in order to introduce and support the subsequent discussion about place branding. In section 2.4., I discuss place marketing and place branding theory which adopts the fundamentals of product and corporate branding.

- 20 - Thus, I first reflect in section 2.3. if economic branding theory can be directly applied to geographical entities, such as cities.

2.3. Is economic branding theory applicable to place branding concepts? In regard to the discussed matter of place brands and place branding which is the purpose of subsection 2.4., I want to briefly forestall what we can understand as a place brand. Zenker and Braun (2010, p. 3) define a place brand as a set of associations which people develop for a place in their mind. This perceptional construct which they call place brand is based on how audiences encounter a place through its visual, verbal and behavioural appearance. This place appearance is influenced by intentions, values and the communication of place marketers and ∗ other stakeholders and through the overall place design (Zenker and Braun 2010, p. 3).

Speaking of economic branding theory in place branding concepts, academic literature reveals to a large extent that places are not equal to individual products (Hankinson 2001; Kavaratzis 2004; Stöber 2007; Warnaby and Medway (2013). Places can rather be seen as social constructs to a large extent (Warnaby and Medway 2013, pp. 7) which are made of and influenced by a multitude of products (Stöber (2007, p. 50). Thus, governing and marketing a place is of a much higher complexity than managing a private sector company (Anholt 2003; Fan 2005; Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005; Stigel and Frimann 2006). That is also why it is much more unpredictable and more complex to apply a consistent branding approach to cities, yet it is not impossible (Hankinson 2001; Morgan et al. 2002; Christgau and Jacobsen 2004, in: Stigel and Frimann 2006).

Warnaby and Medway (2013, pp. 7; 13) state that places are constantly “rewritten” by human activities and thus, are never “finished”. A wide range of interwoven social encounters with a place creates many coexisting individual and distinct place narratives which, in addition, change over time (Kalandides 2011, in: Warnaby and Medway (2013, p. 7). Thus, a place can be seen as a very “slippery” construct compared to a commercial product (Warnaby and Medway 2013, p. 7). A major problem Warnaby and Medway detect is that the application of branding strategies to places leads to the establishment of an officially agreed place narrative (for instance a place identity chosen by public officials, such as Graz as a City of Design) which is highly selective. This selective choice is dependent on the balance of power between local stakeholders and excludes alternative place perceptions of local actors with less

∗ For the original quotation see subsection 2.4.1.

- 21 - influence. The central problem in this respect is that it jeopardises the communication of the place “essence” by a promoted uniform place identity. In other words, through the adoption of branding strategies a place’s unique, diverse and distinguishable character may get lost (Warnaby and Medway 2013, pp. 7; 13).

Hankinson (2001) and Stigel and Frimann (2006) disclose a similar critique on place branding. They argue that place branding is heavily dependent on a social consensus of a multitude of political, cultural, institutional and economic stakeholders while corporations have tighter hierarchical structures. Stigel and Frimann (2006, p. 263) highlight this need for social consensus as a serious issue of city brands and argue, equal to Warnaby and Medway (2013), that city branding may result in a rather generally defined place identity which stands in contrast to the major objective of place branding, namely to shape an expressive identity that reflects a place’s uniqueness. Hankinson (2001, p. 136) additionally claims that place marketers have less financial resources at their disposal compared to private sector stakeholders which makes the management of a branding process even more difficult.

Conversely, Kavaratzis (2004, p. 63) considers the marketing discipline of corporate branding – with its roots in product branding – as basic framework for the discussion of city branding. Public administrations nowadays show several similar features compared to businesses as cities are also “corporate umbrella brands” to some extent (Rainisto 2003, p. 50). Kavaratzis (2004, p. 63) and Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005, p. 511) argue that these forms of branding have a common ground, including a multidisciplinary character of the branded object, the adjustment to multiple audiences, the occurrence of multiple identities, the necessity of long- term visions and the sophisticated and often intangible features of the brand, such as image and identity. This is why “corporate branding and corporate-level marketing do have a multitude of suggestions for marketing implementation within cities” (Kavaratzis 2004, p. ∗ 66).

This brief reflection shows that there are diverse pros and cons concerning the topic of economic branding theory in place branding. However, an increasing number of place branding case studies in academic literature indicates that – whether appropriate or not – economic theory is in fact applied to geographical entities to certain extents. This is why the

∗ In subsection 2.4.3. I also show that the basic branding notions of “brand identity” and “brand image” are frequently applied to place branding concepts.

- 22 - following section investigates the notions of place marketing and place branding and more specifically, city branding.

2.4. Place marketing and place branding In this section I discuss some of the most fundamental characteristics of place marketing and place branding approaches and illustrate that both notions are closely connected. More specifically, I also consider urban areas in the branding process by using the term “city branding”. Furthermore, this section provides some useful insights on potential audiences in the place branding process and discusses the notions of “brand identity” and “brand image” which I specifically use in the chapters 6, 7 and 8 to describe how aspects of place representation and place perception become visible in the case of Graz as a City of Design.

2.4.1. Place marketing and its “family member” place branding Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005, p. 506) describe place marketing as a conscious attempt of governments to equip a place with a specific identity that differentiates it from others and to communicate this identity to target audiences. Aspects of differentiation and positioning with the objective to gain a competitive advantage compared to other places are central to place marketing (Rainisto 2003, pp. 11; 34). Consequently, place marketing can be seen as a response to an increasing competition among places (Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2010 p. 3). It is thus, a globally well-established approach of applying corporate strategies to places in order to attract certain target groups and financial investments. This happens within the framework of neoliberal principles, entrepreneurial governance and the notion of place and identity (Gibson and Davidson 2004, pp. 388-389).

McCann (2009, pp. 119-120) has seen this entrepreneurial focus emerging particularly since the 1970s. He detects that urban geographers’ understanding of city marketing has been frequently influenced by the work of David Harvey. McCann particularly points to three claims Harvey makes with respect to neoliberal ideologies that led to contemporary city marketing: first, as a consequence of the economic crisis in the 1970s, of increasing neoliberal ideologies and of heavily changing political and economic structures, city governments took a growing entrepreneurial orientation; second, the focus on urban economic development led to a stronger attitude of risk-taking in endeavours of urban policy making; third, entrepreneurial mindsets fostered a speculative attitude in these cities which led to partnerships between public and private actors to concentrate resources (McCann 2009, pp. 119-120). Up to the late

- 23 - 1980s or beginning 1990s, place marketing has mainly been associated with public sector promotion or direct advertising of specific assets which a place offers. However, in the past two decades place marketing achieved a broader understanding by becoming a tool of urban planning and even farther, place marketing became relevant for holistic urban development approaches (Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005, p. 506). Over the recent decades place marketing has emerged as a significant topic of economic place development (Rainisto 2003, p. 11). Place development in this respect refers to a long-term marketing strategy aimed to develop and shape significant characteristics of a place (Kotler et al. 2002, in: Rainisto 2003, p. 11).

Applied to urban areas this means that the objective of city marketers is to communicate a striking character of the city which is created by a conglomerate of tangible and intangible assets, such as the built urban landscape or its economic and socio-cultural features (McCann 2009, pp. 120-121). McCann (2009, p. 121) claims that such a conglomerate may become a brand if it exceeds the presentation of a logo or a slogan, namely if the intended image is strategically cultivated and managed. Strategic place management implies a well-organised communication through analogue and digital media and through events.

Kotler et al. (2002, p. 183) define place marketing as an approach that is deliberately consumer-oriented:

Place marketing means designing a place to satisfy the needs of its target markets. It succeeds when citizens and businesses are pleased with their community, and the expectations of visitors and investors are met (Kotler et al. 2002, p. 183).

Rainisto (2003, p. 34) agrees with this definition provided by Kotler et al. (2002) in the sense that place marketing seeks to establish a specific identity in a way that it meets the requirements of audiences who use or “consume" the place (people who use a place in any respect – residents, visitors, entrepreneurs etc.). Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005, p. 507) argue – and this is consistent with a corporate branding approach – that audiences predominantly encounter a place through perceptions and mental images. This is why it is advisable that whoever adopts place marketing should act consumer-oriented, namely trying to take a consumer’s viewpoint when developing and nurturing a certain place appearance. Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005, p. 507) further claim that people generate mental constructions of places through three major influences: first, through urban planning, urban

- 24 - design and other activities that become directly visible in the urban fabric; second, through the way they personally and others use the place; third, through “place representations”, a term that points to the indirect consumption of the place – such as media reports, books, videos etc. Kavaratzis (2004, p. 63) states that the perception of a city – as each individual has a distinct version of it – is the point of interaction between audiences and the city’s image.

The crucial purpose why I highlight aspects of place perceptions is that parts of my empirical analysis of Graz as a City of Design likewise consider place marketing from the individual viewpoint of local creative workers. The particular place marketing approach which deals with this complex topic of place identities and perceived images is place branding (Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005 p. 507). Zenker and Braun (2010, p. 2) describe it as a “family member” of place marketing and state that place branding became increasingly important for the public management of places since the new millennium started.

[A place brand is ] a network of associations in the consumers’ mind based on the visual, verbal, and behavioural expression of a place, which is embodied through the aims, communication, values, and the general culture of the place’s stakeholders and the overall place design (Zenker and Braun 2010, p. 3).

The transitional point when marketing becomes branding, respectively the difference between place marketing and place branding is a matter of complexity in process implementation and a matter of a continuous cultivation of intended strategies. A city brand is not established by a single event or a specific marketing campaign but by an ongoing long-term process. Such a process requires a comprehensive approach which – besides consistent marketing strategies (e.g. advertising) – involves local policy making and concerns all significant aspects of how officials manage the city. The way a city is managed (for instance the way in which public projects are implemented) evokes reactions by audiences, such as residents or entrepreneurs. If this public management related to a communicated image (for example Graz as a City of Design) experiences endorsement by audiences, the brand may achieve consent and support which is beneficial for making the place brand stronger (McCann 2009, p. 121).

Compared to marketing activities, branding equips a place with a stronger identity (Cova, 1996, in: Kavaratzis 2004, p. 63). Place branding can therefore be seen as an advanced form of strategic marketing which brings

- 25 - […] marketing theory and practice closer to the nature and characteristics of places. It provides a base for identifying and uniting a wide range of images intended for the city and meanings attributed to the city in one marketing message, the city’s brand (Kavaratzis 2004, p. 63).

As such, city branding aims to establish one single powerful brand for the city. This brand – its basic visions and related actions to fulfil this vision – is applied to as many public strategies, projects, departments and levels of interaction as possible. The purpose of that is to create a unique image of the city which – in an ideal case – the audience perceives as a consistent offering (EURIB 2013). Speaking of audiences, the following subsection provides an overview on the most important target groups who are in the interest of place marketers.

2.4.2. Audiences in the place branding process Place marketers try to increase and communicate the attractiveness of places in order to attract tourists and investors and also in order to foster civic pride amongst local residents (Deffner and Metaxas 2010, p. 49). There are frequently used categorisations which outline target markets rather generalised, for instance by Kotler et al. (1993, p. 23) who list visitors, residents and workers, businesses and industry as well as export markets as the four major audiences in place marketing. Recent literature however, points to the much more complex structure of audiences which is why I prefer to use the more detailed target group categorisation by Beckmann and Zenker (2012, p. 2), as seen in figure 2.1.

Fig. 2.1.: Target audiences in place marketing and place branding Source: Beckmann and Zenker 2012, p. 2

- 26 - The key argument provided by Beckmann and Zenker (2012, p. 1-2) is that notable differences exist concerning the way individual target groups perceive a place brand, depending on their specific needs. Thus, managing a place brand requires the adjustment of branding efforts on these manifold requirements. This implies a variety of target group- specific strategies and means. Branding campaigns which are built on the belief that one single place brand communication suits a multitude of audiences are not likely to succeed as they consider a uniform society. This is why Beckmann and Zenker use a categorisation with four main audience groups and associated subgroups (see fig. 2.1.). Visitors for instance are not a homogenous group because a leisure tourist is likely to have distinct preferences compared to a business traveller. Apart from that, the key message of figure 2.1. is that a separation in internal and external audiences is advisable. This is important as Beckmann and Zenker (2012, p. 2) reveal that the most significant differences in place perceptions occur between internal and external groups due to distinct knowledge levels. External audiences tend to experience a place through a stronger generalised image, often gathered from media and also connected with some kind of stereotypes. Internal audiences, namely people who actually live or work at the branded place, have a more diverse and multifaceted brand perception (Beckmann and Zenker 2012, pp. 1-2).

Particularly relevant for my discussion of Graz as a City of Design is that Beckmann and Zenker outline the residential subgroups of skilled workforce, students and the creative class as particularly valuable audiences in the branding process. The creative class as a group that gained a special focus in contemporary place marketing and place branding practice is also in the centre of my examination of Graz as a City of Design (chapter 7). For this reason I dedicate chapter 3 to the discussing of this specific target group and the significance of the creative economy for place branding concepts.

Residents such as the creative class hold a particularly important role as an audience in place branding since they are a multifaceted part of places and also act as a central element of a brand’s identity (Pike 2009, p. 860). Braun et al. (2010, p. 4-5) try to get to the bottom of what residents require from a place and what kind of values influence their way of perception. Braun et al. claim that residents seek for “a place to live”.

[Such a place is] where the home is, where their job is or from where they commute to their workplace, a place to raise children, to shop, to exercise a sport, to study, to be with friends

- 27 - or family, to go to the theatre or a sporting event […], also place where they feel they belong (Braun et al. 2010, p. 5).

In this sense a place has to successfully cope with needs and desires like an appealing home and its immediate environment, just like convenient access to the job market, educational, cultural and leisure facilities, parks, shops and so on. This is important because place marketers may adopt branding strategies in order to influence residents in their choice of place by creating a place identity that specifically tackles such needs. Place branding can therefore be seen as an approach to convince residents that it is worth to live at a certain place. Creative workers or the creative class are in strong demand when it comes to governmental strategies to market and brand a place.

Closely connected with audiences and key-actors (place marketers such as municipal governments or public-private partners) in place branding are the notions of brand identity and brand image which I discuss in the next subsection.

2.4.3. Brand identity and brand image I include a brief discussion of “brand identity” and “brand image” as both are important concepts in branding literature and central to understanding how place branding can be approached. “Brand identity” is frequently described as the way a brand is shaped by marketers and thus, matches with my analysis of the first research question, namely how and why the city of Graz is strategically positioned as a City of Design. “Brand image” on the other hand, reflects a brand from the viewpoint of audiences which makes it applicable to my second research question, namely how Graz as a City of Design is encountered by workers of the local creative economy.

Deffner and Metaxas (2010, p. 51) indicate that the establishment of a competitive place image became crucial in place competition especially since the 1990s. A competitive place brand needs to fulfil functional and emotional requirements (de Chernatony 1993 and Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2000 in: Rainisto 2003, p. 49). Especially the emotional or intangible experience of an audience is an increasingly decisive factor for the success of a place branding campaign. A high-quality reputation creates reliability and sympathy in the audience’s mind and therefore equips a brand with an added value (Rainisto 2003, p. 44-45;

- 28 - 47-49). Yet, what is often collectively described as the image of a place can be separated into the notions of “brand identity” and “brand image” as seen in figure 2.2.

Fig. 2.2.: Key terms in (place) branding Source: Rainisto 2003, p. 48

The concept of “brand identity” commonly indicates how the brand owner wants his brand to be understood and to be perceived by audiences. The business holder or the place marketers try to associate the brand with particular characteristics, which synonymously indicate functional benefits and emotional values. The central objective of creating brand identity is to establish a linkage between brand and audience. In other words, brand identity intends to accommodate the essential offerings of a brand within a core vision or a core message (Aaker 1996; Kapferer 1992, in: Rainisto 2003, pp. 47-48). Brand identity is the crucial tool in managing brands and expressing what they stand for (da Silveira et al. 2011, p. 28). The meaning of “brand position” as part of the brand identity is likewise important, since it has the purpose to position a brand in relation to its competitors. This positioning is directly disclosed to targeted audiences by expressing what particular kind of benefits a brand offers compared to others (Rainisto 2003, pp. 53; 75).

“Brand image” in turn, reflects how the brand is actually perceived by audiences and may therefore reveal a gap to the owner’s intention. Subjective impressions in the mind of audiences influence this sense of image, such as personal expectations, feelings and values. Hence, brand image is synonymous with what people believe about the brand (AMA 2013b)

- 29 - and is regarded as the central purpose of branding (Hankinson 2001, p. 128). Applied to a place a brand image may indicate that the general public perceives the place image in the way policy-makers try to impose on them or what happens quite often, in a different way to this actual vision (Atkinson et al. 2002; Colombino 2007; Ashworth and Kavaratzis 2010). However, a gap between place identity and place image can still generate support by the audiences and does not necessarily result in opposition. If a place image is perceived differently it still may be attractive to an audience such as residents. A differing place representation for example may reflect a place image that is desirable and not unwelcome and which may become “reality” in future. Thus, it happens that audiences do not resist to, but accept or negotiate the marketers’ different sense of a place (Colombino 2007, p. 258).

In contrast to brand identity which is of a rather steady character in the sense that it is positioned on a strategically managed process, brand image is stronger changeable because a multitude of audience perceptions and the interaction of these various perspectives continue to equip the brand with new meanings (Aitken and Campelo 2011, p. 2). The adoption of “brand identity” and “brand image” to place-related processes shows that place branding can be seen as a policy instrument that makes use of conceptual tools from marketing and branding theory (Rainisto 2003; Deffner and Metaxas 2010; Aitken and Campelo 2011).

The discussion of place marketing, place branding, the concepts of place identity and place image as well as the consideration of audiences in the branding process so far provides the framework for discussing “city branding”. This notion is of central importance as the empirical part of the present thesis takes the city of Graz as geographical object of research into consideration.

2.4.4. City branding Place branding is a comprehensive term and offers a plurality of potential places to examine. My thesis focuses on the city of Graz as a case study which is why I discuss the branding of urban areas here, respectively city branding. I begin with a definition of city branding by Kavaratzis (2004, p. 70):

City branding is understood as the means both for achieving competitive advantage in order to increase inward investment and tourism, and also for achieving community development,

- 30 - reinforcing local identity and identification of the citizens with their city and activating all social forces to avoid social exclusion and unrest (Kavaratzis 2004, p. 70).

Kavaratzis (2004, p. 70) writes of a social approach in city marketing and branding, going beyond purely economy-oriented activities. City brands are therefore closely connected to the needs of the local community. Deffner and Metaxas (2006, p. 4) agree and highlight that both, economic objectives as well as the consideration of social issues in urban development practice bridge the gap between city branding and urban policy.

However, what has been frequently criticised by academics is that city marketing practices and associated urban regeneration strategies produce a sort of “placelessness” and place homogeneity as they largely create generalised place narratives on a top-down basis (Kavaratzis 2004; Warnaby and Medway 2013). As a consequence of these selective top- down strategies, Warnaby and Medway (2013, p. 14) advocate a stronger involvement of bottom-up approaches in place marketing and city branding with places to be considered as multifaceted ever-changing constructs.

The current global capitalistic system increased city-competition (Knox 1997; Budd 1998; Gospodini 2002). Kotler et al. (1999, in: Jacobsen 2009, p. 70) stress that Europe nowadays is marked by more than 100,000 competing communities. There is a particular rivalry between cities in close proximity on the one hand and cities with a comparable character on the other hand, for instance London vs. Paris or Hamburg vs. Cologne vs. Munich (Zenker et al. 2012, p. 138). Relating this to the context of my case study of Graz it could therefore be argued that Graz has national competitors like Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck or international competitors in close proximity, such as Maribor or Ljubljana.

This trend of a growing territorial competitiveness among urban areas reflects that “geography matters” in the economic development of places (Gordon 1999, p. 1001). Competition induces urban governments to constantly adjust and reshape cities, whether in economic, political, social or cultural contexts. According to Zhu et al. (2010, p. 221) a worldwide proliferation of campaigns targeted at the creation and further improvement of city images can be detected. In this respect, public authorities adopt policies of place promotion, place marketing or city branding (Zhu et al. 2010, p. 221) to achieve beneficial and strong associations as a place to visit, a place to live and a place to invest (Stigel and Frimann 2006,

- 31 - pp. 247-248). The result is a remarkable change in the way cities are governed. Urban governance nowadays tends to shape cities like businesses and tends to act like a private- sector stakeholder in many of its spheres – away from an exclusively service-providing body for its citizens to a stronger outward-oriented and risk-taking actor. This is why we can speak of urban entrepreneurialism when considering how contemporary cities are governed (Hall and Hubbard 1996, p. 153) or state that there is a shift from a managerial to an entrepreneurial form of governance (Hubbard 1996, p. 1441).

Considering urban entrepreneurialism, Paddison (1993, p. 339) highlights that city marketing redefines and re-establishes the urban image by applying strategic activities that represent and nurture this image. According to Kavaratzis (2007, in: Mateo and Seisdedos 2010, p. 78), city branding follows the approach to manage the image of a city holistically with the effect that the place identity which is communicated by city marketers acts as a guiding vision. This vision is subsequently applied to all notable public activities that can be connected with the city brand. This is particularly interesting as my analysis of Graz (which I present in chapters 6 and 7) reveals that the overall vision of Graz as a City of Design is intended to be exactly such a guideline for public actors and departments as well as for any urban agenda that requires the consideration of design.

García (2004, pp. 315-316) detects an expansion and evolution of city marketing techniques towards more sophisticated and holistic concepts of city branding since the beginning 1990s. García, amongst other scholars, argues that this shift caused a significant valorisation of “culture” in city branding approaches. Culture in the sense of local history, the built urban fabric, cultural facilities and cultural events shapes the city’s image and the city’s identity (Kavaratzis 2005, pp. 3-4). Landry et al. (1996, in: Stevenson 2003, p. 105) claim that contemporary urban cultural policies even include spheres like public transportation, the road network, city lighting, safety standards and a multitude of other activities, which is why cultural policy is a comprehensible approach to deal with urban quality of life (Evan 2001, in: Stevenson 2003, p. 105).

Mitchell (1995, pp. 105-106) considers the notion of “culture” from a stronger theoretical basis and argues that it is a broad, vague or even “slippery” construct that is comprised of manifold spheres of social interaction, such as the everyday life with peoples’ activities, political and economic formations. “Culture” even more is a “social process” that categorises

- 32 - human activity into defined entities to name and attribute them ( ibidem , p. 113). As such, “culture” is “perhaps […] a necessary abstraction for understanding the incredible suite of differences that mark the world” (Mitchell 1995, p. 106). Duncan and Duncan (1996, p. 577) likewise illustrate culture as a categorising system that is “inextricably interwoven into economic and political systems”.

This in turn induces García (2004, pp. 313-314) to speak of culture as an economic factor with a high representational value which is why culture took a central role in urban development and nowadays acts as a main asset of the marketable city. The European City of Culture programme and the corresponding designation as a European Cultural Capital is a vivid example how cultural city planning is combined with city branding strategies (Stevenson 2003, pp. 104-106).

Even though not originally intended to be a marketing and branding tool, the UNESCO World Heritage List is a further example to illustrate how a city brand evolves in practice (Alakavuk and Kuyucu 2009, pp. 140-152). Undoubtedly, the main purpose of the UNESCO World Heritage is the preservation of globally outstanding natural and cultural assets. Yet, it has been increasingly adopted in tourism-oriented place branding campaigns. Due to its worldwide recognized positive image the UNESCO seal adds a substantial value to a place image. The reasons for that are quite obvious: first, the UNESCO status provides a clear differentiation compared to a place that lacks of such honours and it instantly creates positive associations; second, the status can be used as a unique selling proposition in order to create strong brand perceptions; third, it reduces people’s doubts and risk perceptions concerning a place and thus, provides an advantage in the place decision-process of the audience (Alakavuk and Kuyucu 2009, pp. 140-152). The fact that the city of Graz is not just a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site but also a UNESCO City of Design has been a recurring aspect during my fieldwork. The responses I got during the interviews I conducted for this thesis also revealed that the UNESCO status is regarded as a competitive advantage compared to other places and as a central element of local identification since the interviewees perceive the image of Graz as being closely connected to the UNESCO.

The reason why I stress the notion of culture in city marketing and branding is that culture provides the basis for a strong and now very popular discourse about urban creativity and the creative city (Stevenson 2003; García 2004; Zenker 2009). This creative discourse brings us

- 33 - closer to discussing the audience group which is in the centre of the present thesis, namely creative people and creative industries who are simultaneously a vital aspect of the City of Design topic in Graz. As Evans (2003, p. 421) claims, the cultural orientation of urban policy is often an attempt to equip a place with a creative character. García (2004, p. 317 pointing to Landry 2000 and Florida 2002) argues that the most frequent efforts in redefining and reshaping urban identities and images in the past decade have been oriented at the creative and knowledge economy. Likewise Stevenson (2003, p. 104) detects the notion of the “creative city” in urban marketing approaches as a consequence of the upcoming cultural discourse. She describes creativity as common basis to shape cities with symbolic values and mark them as “different”.

The attraction of creative people, namely innovative and skilled workforce, is thus, of particular interest in inter-city competition. More and more city officials therefore join this trend and adopt place marketing and city branding strategies to establish the image of a creative and innovative urban environment (Zenker 2009, p. 23). Furthermore, it is particularly this target group of the creative class (Florida 2003; 2005; 2012) that values a strong cultural and innovative image of a city (Kavaratzis 2005, p. 4). This is why the subsequent chapter (3) deals with the creative class and the creative economy in particular and discusses why creativity matters in the city branding context.

2.5. Conclusion In this chapter about marketing and branding theory I have discussed how the basic ideas and concepts of branding borrowed from economics are increasingly applied to places. Yet, the application of branding concepts to places in general and cities in particular is regarded to be of a higher sophisticated character than branding a product or a corporation. Place marketing and place branding are conceptual frameworks that make it possible to apply branding principles to shape place identities and place images. Thus, they are central to the efforts by place marketers, such as municipal governments, to establish, represent and communicate a marketable and distinct place perception.

The crucial viewpoint which is coherently illustrated in academic literature assumes that as soon as we speak of branding we deal with conscious and unconscious perceptions and how customers or audiences encounter an offering through mental constructions. This is why city branding can be seen as a multilayered approach to develop a city’s identity. This defined

- 34 - identity needs to cope with the attitudes and requirements of multiple urban stakeholder groups and simultaneously, this identity needs to be consequently nurtured by strategically implemented urban activities and by municipal decision processes that support the underlying vision of the brand. Nurturing this brand identity includes for example visible marketing activities just like public decision processes that concern any sphere of the chosen brand. The purpose of this strict orientation at a city’s defined identity is to create a consistent place representation that is featured by promotional marketing, but also particularly by the way how public departments, public officials and private stakeholders behave in decision making and how installed projects, events and other local activities generally reflect the marketed identity. Yet, it is necessary to consider city branding likewise as a process that is not in direct control of place marketers as the brand develops through the active place consumption by audiences and through complex interactions of these target groups which leads to the development of a perceived sophisticated brand image (Rainisto 2003; Kavaratzis 2004; Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005; Zenker and Braun 2010; Aitken and Campelo 2011; Warnaby and Medway 2013).

Place marketing and especially this multifaceted understanding of city branding theory is relevant to investigating my chosen case study, namely Graz as a UNESCO City of Design, for three reasons: first, in my empirical chapters (6 and 7) I will show that the current commitment to shape Graz’s identity towards a City of Design shows several aspects that can be connected to the discussed marketing and branding theory. I use for example the notions of brand identity and brand image, as discussed by Hankinson (2001), Rainisto (2003), Ashworth and Kavaratzis (2010), Aitken and Campelo (2011) and da Silveira et al. (2011), to describe how the city is strategically communicated and how local audiences, represented by workers of the creative economy, encounter the process – specifically on an individual level; second, referring to the final statements of section 2.4., I consider creative industries as a key audience of the current marketing and branding process in the city of Graz and therefore I show that the trend of branding creative cities has also reached Austria’s second largest agglomeration; third, on the basis of my analysis how Graz is communicated as a City of Design and how this process is encountered by local creative workers (chapter 6 and 7), I provide arguments in the final conclusion why the City of Design implementation in Graz is worth to be considered as a developing case of city branding. I especially argue that the place marketers who engage on the image of Graz as a City of Design commit to a defined vision to consequently apply its principles to all relevant spheres of the municipality.

- 35 - In that sense, the theoretical approach I use to describe marketing and branding and the transformation into place marketing and place branding concepts is highly suitable to underpin aspects of the current place representation and communication in the city of Graz. Place branding is therefore of central relevance to the creation of beneficial place associations and can be seen as a framework to nurture these associations and incorporate them into a strong and competitive place image in the long run.

As place marketing and city branding campaigns are frequently targeted at the establishment of creative urban environments to attract the creative class, I will continue to examine this specific audience and the relevance of the creative economy to city branding in the following chapter.

- 36 - 3. The Creative City

3.1. Introduction The current marketing approach to brand Graz as a City of Design and thus, as a creative city, is still young in its implementation. However, the worldwide emergence of place images which are based on innovative or creative themes shows that creative city approaches are not significantly new processes anymore. For this reason, I discuss in this chapter what scholars do understand as the creative city. Section 3.2. provides an introductory thought on the notion of “creativity” which is the underlying keyword of numerous city marketing campaigns just like in the city of Graz. In section 3.3. I illustrate how and why the communication of creative place images is of particular relevance to city marketing. Chapter 3 in general puts a strong emphasis on the “creative class” concept by Richard Florida (2002; 2012) and related counterarguments by a variety of scholars (Peck 2005; Vanolo 2008; Wilson and Keil 2008; Currah 2009; Bain 2010; Bounds 2010; Colomb and Kalandides 2010), which is why section 3.4. is dedicated to discuss this particular topic. Furthermore, I consider the notion of “creative industries” in section 3.5. Creative industries reflect the economic framework of creative individuals and thus, hold a central role in creative city concepts in general and in my further investigation of Graz as a City of Design in particular.

3.2. The notion of “creativity” As I have already highlighted in chapter 2, the main interest in city branding is to create positive and desirable place associations in order to attract people and investments (Kavaratzis 2004; Gibson and Davidson 2004; Vanolo 2008). As a consequence, contemporary city marketing and place branding strategies frequently adopt the notion of “creativity” in order to establish and communicate beneficial place images (Evans 2003; Stevenson 2003; García 2004; Zenker 2009).

But how can the “creativity” be defined or what kind of activity makes people being creative? Currah (2009) defines “creativity” in the International Encyclopaedia of Human Geography as follows:

The mobilization, appropriation, and utilization of knowledge to create ideas, interpretations, forms, goods, methods, or technologies that are distinctly original and imaginative in their application and long-term impact (Currah 2009, p. 327).

- 37 - “Creativity” as such does not primarily occur with economic intentions but is rather an elementary process of human thinking and thus, a basic human skill (Currah 2009, p. 327) or “a routine form of human activity” (Hubbard 2006, p. 245). Yet, at the same time the mere act of “being creative” is interesting from an economic viewpoint as it may reflect some kind of valuable knowledge that can be used to have economic success. For this reason it can be argued that creativity has been of central relevance to any economic development over time (Currah 2009, p. 327) because it is part of all forms of production or consumption (Hubbard 2006, p. 209). Not surprisingly, especially urban economic policy has become increasingly aware of this “human skill” and “creativity” has progressively emerged as a central theme in city marketing and city branding for more than a decade (Currah 2009, p. 327).

3.3. The relevance of creativity in city marketing According to Vanolo (2008, p. 370) and Currah (2009, p. 330) the crucial consideration why creativity became a keyword in urban planning and city marketing policies is a gradual shift of neoliberal viewpoints, starting in the 1980s. The assumption that technological capabilities or that efficient business organisation are the central driving forces of economies have increasingly shifted towards the viewpoint that “human capital” or “human skills” are the critical forces. Creativity in this respect, as one of the most outstanding human skills, is nowadays widely considered as a central “urban asset” (Vanolo 2008, p. 381).

The increased orientation on creative concepts in urban policy has certainly been fostered by the growing academic interest in creativity as economic and social factor and the emergence of international bestselling books dealing with “The Creative Class” (cf. Florida 2002) or “The Creative City” (cf. Landry 2000). Atkinson and Easthope (2009, p. 66) describe Richard Florida and Charles Landry as two of the central figures in the creative city movement. According to them, Landry’s Creative City (2000) assumes a city as being creative when local stakeholders adopt innovation and creative thinking in order to deal with social issues, such as growing social fragmentation, unequal access to mobility or an increasing discontent with the built urban fabric (Landry and Bianchini 1998, in: Atkinson and Easthope 2009, p. 66). In his opinion a creative city is not just marked by the presence of creative workers or creative industries but rather by the adjustment of local governance to manifold urban challenges (Atkinson and Easthope 2009, p. 66). Florida (2002; 2012) in turn, considers a creative city

- 38 - largely in economic terms and defines it through the presence of creative individuals, the so ∗ called “creative class” (Atkinson and Easthope 2009, p. 66).

∗∗ Although frequently questioned and criticised by a variety of scholars (Peck 2005; Vanolo 2008; Wilson and Keil 2008; Colomb and Kalandides 2010) there is no doubt about the deep impact of Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class (2002) (Vanolo 2008; Colomb and Kalandides 2010). Florida’s assumption that the creative class is the “dominant class in society” (Florida 2002, p. xxvii) and that cities therefore “must” attract as much creative individuals as possible (Peck 2005, p. 740) created an internationally widespread idea amongst policy makers to establish and communicate “hip” and creative place images (Catungal and Leslie 2009, p. 2577). According to Florida’s vision, creative cities represent multicultural and tolerant environments, beneficial for open social interactions where talented people become easily accepted and valued (Vanolo 2008, p. 372).

Florida further claims that human creativity is the foundation of urban economic life – “new technologies, new industries, new wealth and all other good economic things flow from it” (Florida 2002, p. 21). Many creative city concepts are therefore adjusted to the requirements of creative class members because they are widely seen as source of economic success (Peck 2005, p. 753). This is also the reason why particularly Florida’s approach has experienced worldwide proliferation in city marketing campaigns: it is deliberately economy-oriented and thus, in favour of neoliberal principles such as economic efficiency and economic multiplier effects (Catungal and Leslie 2009, p. 2578) and it stresses the importance of knowledge- intensive industries and a flexible labour-market (Atkinson and Easthope 2009, p. 65). Hubbard detected that “creativity has become a potent symbolic territory in the emerging twenty-first-century knowledge economy” , proven by the globally emerging innovation- and creativity-oriented urban policies (Hubbard 2006, p. 210).

A major critique on Florida’s suggestions on urban creative environments is that he argues in an elitist way, showing the privileged status of the creative class, devaluating the remaining “uncreative” two thirds of the society and rather neglecting social approaches in city planning (Peck 2005; Bounds 2010). Vanolo (2008, p. 372) argues that “Florida-oriented” branding policies tend to become inconspicuous because cities worldwide adopt his promoted

∗ I discuss the “creative class” according to Richard Florida (2002; 2012) in section 3.4. ∗∗ Counterarguments to Florida’s concept of the “creative class” are considered in section 3.4.

- 39 - strategies. In this sense, cities fail to develop distinct place communications and rather rely on the cheap “serial reproduction” (Harvery 1989, in: Vanolo 2008, p. 372) of the same concept. Bain (2010, p. 64) criticises the loss of uniqueness of creative images in this respect.

However, Scott (2006), Vanolo (2008) and Bain (2010) emphasise that city policies which adopt creative city strategies should not be considered as being limited to the promotional creation of an image. It rather concerns a variety of tangible and intangible actions, such as the physical planning of the urban fabric, social policies (Scott 2006, p. 14) or the organisation of events (Vanolo 2008, p. 372). This is why the creative city approach – if not understood from an one-dimensional economic point of view – can be considered as an all- encompassing approach to deal with social, cultural and with economic urban spheres just like with the built urban fabric. Bain (2010, pp. 64-65) claims that an “ideal” creative city approach would be based on “inclusivity, accountability, and justice” which forms the basis for a self-reliant and far-sighted approach to deal with urban issues. Yet, she detects that the current entrepreneurial focus on city policies and the strong influence of market-forces run at the expense of socially-oriented agendas. The rather holistic orientation as described by Landry (2000) or Bain (2010) may foster that a city’s image is likely to be perceived as one which is generating ideas, innovations and smart solutions in any respect (Vanolo 2008, p. 372). Simultaneously, Scott (2006, p. 15) stresses that a creative city cannot be entirely planned or intentionally created, but is to a certain extent also a “naturally” occurring construct on historically grown place-specific, socioeconomic relations and activities. For this reason I will illustrate the way how creative city policy may be approached in practice by ∗ considering the case of Graz as a City of Design.

In the following section I provide a basic characterisation of Florida’s creative class in order to clarify what he understands as the creative audience in city branding because this concept has already been frequently applied to local marketing policies and image communication campaigns. I also include aspects of the most substantial critique directed to Florida’s ∗∗ concept. In my final conclusion of this thesis I will compare Florida’s arguments and related counterarguments with the creative city strategy which is currently implemented in the city of Graz.

∗ cf. chapter 6 ∗∗ cf. chapter 8

- 40 - 3.4. Florida’s creative class and related counterarguments According to Florida (2002; 2012), the creative class can be considered as a category of people who take a dominant role in the urban economy. The membership in this class largely depends on one’s particular kind of profession. The central feature of “creatives” is that they “create meaningful new forms” (Florida 2012, p. 38) or in other words, they create innovations which are widely practical and beneficial for economy or society. Opposed to the working class and their predominantly physical labour, creative people first and foremost work with their mind. Florida splits the class into a “Super-Creative-Core” and “Creative Professionals”. The former is composed of scientists, engineers, university professors, poets and novelists, artists, entertainers, actors, designers and architects, non-fiction writers, editors, cultural figures, think-tank researchers, analysts as well as other kind of opinion makers. Creative professionals in turn, work in knowledge-intensive industries such as the financial service sector, the high-tech sector or in the field of business management (Florida 2012, pp. 37-39).

This list of professions already reveals that the creative class is not characterised as a small elite but a large amount of skilled people with an according socioeconomic influence who have the potential to foster dynamic urban environments (Zenker 2009, p. 25) and are able to use their diverse knowledge in order to contribute to smart and innovative solutions for fundamental urban issues (Bounds 2010, p. 188).

Florida (2005, in: Zenker 2009, p. 26) further argues that economic growth and a competitive character of a city is a logical consequence if the city succeeds to attract the creative class. According to Florida, they become particularly attracted if a city manages to bring the “three T’s” together, meaning the three crucial features for the creative class: technology, tolerance and talent. “Technology” implies that the location offers innovation and high technological capacities. “Tolerance” should be considered synonymous with a place’s openness to all ethnic groups and lifestyles, which gives a city a diverse and inviting character. With the notion of “talent”, Florida argues that creative people attract other creative people which may result in a multiplier effect.

In that sense, the creative class is not exclusively attracted by job opportunities or salaries (Zenker 2009; Vanolo 2008) but they require vibrant, tolerant and creative places which have a high quality in cultural, recreational and environmental realms. This is the crux for city

- 41 - branding concepts which adjust to the visions of Florida and other scholars, namely to brand a culturally diverse and exciting urban image which is appealing for a multifaceted group of creative professionals (Vanolo 2008, p. 370).

However, the creative class approach has been criticised on several occasions (Peck 2005; Vanolo 2008; Wilson and Keil 2008; Currah 2009; Bain 2010; Bounds 2010; Colomb and Kalandides 2010). The most substantial argument of this critique is that the frequently adopted focus on creative city concepts creates urban winners and losers. Peck (2005) criticises that “Florida is left with little, however, but a series of open questions” (Peck 2005, p. 758). His viewpoint is that the creative class discourse largely neglects social problems such as inequality and urban poverty and focuses on the superior significance of creative individuals. Thus, it directs urban policy towards the fulfilment of desired upper-class lifestyle requirements or in other words, towards the needs of an elitist group rather than towards the confrontation with basic social needs. It also disdains two-thirds of the society who have “non-creative” occupations (i.e. workers in manufacturing and other service sectors) by considering them as being mostly supporting actors in a knowledge society that is controlled by “creatives” (Peck 2005, pp. 756-758; 764).

Bounds (2010, p. 189) argues that the creative class approach causes political polarisation because people are increasingly defined and divided on the basis of their income and social status. Problems like income disparities between the creative and the non-creative class may cause a growingly uneven development including unaffordable housing and sprawl. This issue mostly remains ignored in Florida’s considerations.

Vanolo (2008, p. 371) adds that the focus on the creative class induces local governments to foster a selective neighbourhood development and revitalisation which may lead to issues of gentrification and associated real estate speculations, processes of displacement and a loss of affordable housing. He therefore describe Florida’s creative framework as “banal elitist selective policies” (ibidem , p. 371). Particularly noteworthy is that Vanolo (2008, p. 381) corrects Florida’s key message that the creative class should be attracted because of their creative or innovative potential. Vanolo claims that members of this class should be first and foremost attracted because they tend to be strong consumers and can, for instance, stimulate the local market and thus, can contribute to inducing local development.

- 42 - Further critique points to a missing causal link between the presence of creative individuals and a positive economic development (Currah 2009, p. 330; Bounds 2010, p. 189). Currah (2009, p. 330) argues that it may be true, as Florida claims, that vibrant and tolerant cities with a diverse labour market foster innovation and that the gathering or clustering of creative industries may have beneficial effects on the city in general. Yet, Currah considers it as a mistake to believe that innovation or economic success is literally impossible without a significant amount of people who belong to the creative economy. In this sense, a high concentration of creative industries may also be a symptom – and not necessarily a root – of urban economic development ( ibidem , p. 330).

Despite this profound critique on the concept of the creative class and associated creative city frameworks, academic literature leaves no doubt that creative city concepts are globally applied to urban planning and to the communication of place images. Apart from the creative class as a main audience group in marketing the creative city, I consider the notion of “creative industries” as they provide the entrepreneurial framework for creative individuals and are likewise central to my discussion of how the City of Design process in Graz is strategically approached.

3.5. Creative industries According to Hubbard (2006, p. 209), the notion of “creative industries” is often used as a collective term for the conglomerate of arts, media and information industries. Hence, the creative industries sector primarily contains occupational categories and professions which are based on knowledge-intensive, individual skills and where the outcome has a substantial symbolic and aesthetic value. This is a key argument why creative businesses are considered as a vital part of a city’s economy, namely because products and brands are connected with strong symbolic values and perceived images (Musterd et al. 2007, pp. 18-19).

In 1998, the British Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) publicised a definition of creative industries that can be frequently found in academic papers:

Those activities which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property (Rossello and Wright 2010, p. 16).

- 43 - Creative industries form a common creative economy and it depends on the specific occupation whether a company is part of this economy (Florida 2012, pp. 17; 30). There are different approaches to describe creative industries and there is no official classification as the conceptual boundaries are vague (Hartley 2005; Currah 2009). However, in order to get a concrete sense of what kind of professions may count to this economic sector, I illustrate the categorization by the DCMS (published together with the above-mentioned definition), which highlights the following creative branches (Rossello and Wright 2010, p. 16):

• Advertising • Film and video • Architecture • Interactive leisure software • Art and antiques markets • Music • Computer and video games • Performing arts • Crafts • Publishing • Design • Software and computer services • Designer fashion • Television and radio

Musterd et al. (2007, pp. 18-19) highlight that creative industries are predominantly small- sized and therefore flexible companies which are often organized in networks. I will prove this argument with the consideration of creative industries in Graz in chapter 4. Creative enterprises also tend to settle in spatial proximity to each other, a phenomenon which Krätke (2004, p. 518) describes as “local clustering”. Such spatial concentrations appear because of the importance of knowledge exchange among creative industries in order to foster new ideas and thus, to improve the innovative environment (Musterd et al. 2007, pp. 18-20). Even though this is not a particular focus of this thesis, I stress this aspect of clustering because most of my interviews with creative workers revealed that cooperation and exchange of knowledge are important aspects of their daily work.

A major reason why creative industries became an increasingly significant part of the general ∗ economy is illustrated by the “creativ wirtschaft austria” (2009, p. 15). By considering the example of Austrian creative industries, the cwa argues that the reason for the growing importance of creative sectors is based on the trend of personal individualisation. This means that the growing wealth especially in high-income countries leads to more sophisticated

∗ cwa (Creative Industries Austria) is a panel organised within the framework of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and has the task to promote creative businesses.

- 44 - consumer needs and therefore to a constantly rising requirement of custom-made products/services. According to the cwa, especially creative industries or the creative economy are able to cope with these changing needs and offer solutions which fit to quickly emerging trends. “Creative professionals craft unique items instead of goods in bulk” (cwa 2009, p. 15) or in other words, creative industries offer products/services that are not covered by traditional economic sectors.

In chapters 6 and 7, I illustrate that creative industries are of central significance to the positioning of Graz as a City of Design as their presence equips Graz with a quite comprehensible and presentable creative identity – even though the perception of the city’s creative character is rather restricted to a circle of experts so far. Thus, they are a crucial aspect of the approach of city marketers to brand Graz as a creative city.

3.6. Conclusion This chapter suggests that the communication of creative city images became one of the central objectives in contemporary urban policy. Thus, a globally growing number of city governments and regional authorities implement marketing, and more recently branding strategies in order to equip places with an innovative, creative and vibrant character, with the objective to attract certain audiences or investments. Despite the fact that the notion of “creativity” only has come into an urban policy discourse over the past three decades, “creativity” is considered to be a fundamental human skill and thus, to be important for any social, cultural or economic development.

Creative individuals who work in creative industry sectors, especially meaning people with a knowledge-based and in many cases arts- and culture-related occupation, are both, the building blocks and the central target group of numerous creative city approaches. As the most popular approach in this respect I illustrated Richard Florida’s (2002; 2012) considerations on the “creative class” which he describes as the contemporary societal “elite” who holds the power of a city’s economic and overall well-being.

The widespread adjustment of urban planning policies to Florida’s assumptions and the associated marketing and branding of creative and “hip” place images is a particularly noteworthy phenomenon of the past decade. Yet, it is frequently criticised for its exclusive and rather one-dimensional approach to the relationship of creativity and urban development.

- 45 - I will take this into account when considering Graz and its current positioning as a creative city, namely as a City of Design. I want to illustrate if the creative city approach in Graz – even though it is still at an early stage of implementation – is directed to Florida’s largely economic viewpoints or if the approach in Graz differs from that way.

In this sense, the basic considerations of the creative city I discussed in this chapter – whether in relation to Florida (2002; 2012), Landry (2000) or other scholars – provides the theoretical groundwork to discuss the particular way how city marketers and local politicians strategically manage Graz as a creative city.

Prior to the illustration of my empirical research beginning with chapter 5, I examine how local stakeholders in the city of Graz approach the notion of “creativity”. For this reason, chapter 4 is dedicated to introduce fundamental characteristics and creative roots of the city of Graz and to show the strategic purpose of the current positioning of Graz as a UNESCO Creative City and as a City of Design.

- 46 - 4. The City of Graz: Culture, Creativity and the UNESCO City of Design Theme

4.1. Introduction In this chapter I provide a brief overview of the city of Graz and its different marketed images (4.2. and 4.3.). I investigate why public officials, such as Graz’s city government, position and communicate Graz as a city of culture and more recently, as a creative “hot spot” and a City of Design (4.4.). For this reason I consider municipal development objectives which deal with culture and creativity and I also discuss Styria’s socioeconomic framework conditions which have an influence on urban agendas in this respect. For a debate of creative characteristics of the city of Graz it is necessary to take the notion of “culture” into account because the achievements of the year as the European Capital of Culture (2003) also increased the importance of discourses on creativity in the city. Furthermore, I discuss the cultural and creative roots of the city (4.5.) and draw a picture of the local creative economy (4.6.). All these aspects are important for the understanding of why Graz has been officially announced as a UNESCO City of Design. I also add a brief introduction to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (4.7.) and the UNESCO Cities of Design (4.8.) in order to reveal the general purpose ∗ of this network. Hence, the purpose of chapter 4 is to provide the necessary fundamentals to further discuss Graz as a creative city and as a UNESCO City of Design.

4.2. The city of Graz The city of Graz is located in the southeast of Austria and is the capital of the Austrian province of Styria. About 40 percent of the municipality is covered by green areas and the river Mur divides the urban area into an Eastern and a Western part (City of Graz 2012). The seventeen urban districts which compose the municipality had a total population of almost 270,000 in 2012, which makes Graz Austria’s second largest city with a constant growth over the past years (Magistrat Graz – Präsidialabteilung 2013, p. 9).

The earliest documented references date back to 1115 and 1128. The city has always been located at the crossroads of different European cultures with Romanic, Slavic, Hungarian and Alpine-Germanic influences, melting into a distinctive socio-cultural urban fabric (City of

∗ The discussion of how Graz is strategically communicated as a City of Design is provided in chapter 6. Therefore, it will be discussed rather marginally in the present sections.

- 47 - Graz 2013). Furthermore, the old town as a world cultural heritage site is well-known for its historic architecture mostly based on Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and “Gründerzeit” (“Historicism”) as well as Art Nouveau. Due to this long history and diverse cultural influences, Graz has been particularly present in thematic discourses on the city of culture, science and technology ( ibidem 2013). Four universities and two universities of applied sciences with a total of about 45,000 students make Graz a university town (Stocker 2013, p. 211). Its geographical location between the Alps-Adriatic region and the Danube region as well as diverse linkages to neighbouring countries allow Graz to promote itself as a “gateway” to Southeastern Europe (Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt 2001, p. 17).

Fig. 4.1.: Impressions of the city of Graz, Austria Clockwise starting from top left: Uhrturm (clock tower); Kunsthaus (art muesum); Mausoleum (final resting place of Emperor Ferdinand II); Rathaus (city hall) Photos: Michael Bodner, May 16 th , 2011

- 48 - 4.3. The multiple marketed images of Graz “UNESCO City of Design” is the most recent official designation of the city of Graz. Yet, it is not the only one. This section illustrates the most significant titles the city has acquired so far in order to show to which particular place images Graz is committed and if one can detect any recurring aspects or themes of this place representation.

However, prior to this discussion I want to stress a personal observation that I made while being a citizen of Graz for more than six years: in recent years, the production of multiple images associated with specific “titles” seemed to be of particular importance to local policy makers. Titles can certainly be considered as beneficial for a city’s image as they usually honour a place for positive achievements. But in the case of Graz some doubts arise if the vast number of official and unofficial designations does not rather cause some confusion. Audiences may get confused concerning the question what the “essence” of the public place communication of the city of Graz is. I highlight this as it is not a viewpoint held solely by me but this opinion likewise occurred during various conversations with several friends of mine and even during some of the interviews I completed for this thesis. There is also a public discourse about the confusion that may be generated by the described issue. An article by the Austrian newspaper “Die Presse” (2011) asked about the “Quo Vadis” of the city with regard to the great variety of designations. The critique that comes along with this article is that the Styrian capital may have a deficit in terms of political foresightedness and that consistent concepts of place communication fail too often because their relevance goes beyond the timeframe of the next municipal election. I do not intend to answer this question in this thesis but I outline this controversy because I want to show that the subsequent discussion of the multiple marketed images of Graz does not imply that these images are endorsed throughout the public. They are subject to critique and informal public discourse at the same time.

By taking a closer look at the official website of the city of Graz, one can quickly spot some official awards and designations. In 1999, the Old Town of Graz has been nominated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, not last due to its outstanding rooftop scenery. The cultural heritage has been extended by adding Schloss Eggenberg (Eggenberg Palace) to the UNESCO listing in 2010. Furthermore, according to a decision by the city council, Graz became a Human Rights City in 2001, approved by the United Nations (Stadt Graz 2013). This title is based on an initiative by the People's Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE), a non-profit organization which also supports and supervises the Human Rights

- 49 - Cities Programme (PDHRE 2011). In the year 2003, Graz has been nominated as European Capital of Culture (Stadt Graz 2013). This award is limited to one year and it is nowadays granted by the Council of the European Union, but in the case of Graz the EU Culture Ministers took the decision (European Commission 2013). Cultural Capital is arguably the most remarkable title Graz occupied because it caused great structural and organisational developments in the city and can be seen as the source of the intensification of the creative discourse in the city. As mentioned above, the latest title Graz received in March 2011 is that of a UNESCO City of Design (Stadt Graz 2013).

Besides these internationally assigned honours, there are further examples to be mentioned. Awarded as a Capital of Culinary Delights in 2008, Graz holds this specifically Austrian title which is used to promote and popularize regional and local products. It is based on the label of “Genussregionen” (culinary delights regions), initiated by the Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management) and the Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA), responsible for agricultural marketing and quality labels (Graz Tourism 2013; Agrarmarkt Austria 2013). A selection of other designations officially listed by the municipal government shows Graz as a “Klimaschutzgemeinde” (climate protection community) in 2010 and Eco City since 1995 (Stadt Graz 2013). Additionally, there are numerous unofficial designations which circulate among publications and promotional folders by the city. “City of literature”, “city of architecture” (Die Presse 2011) or “metropolis for e-mobility” (Profil 2012) are just a few examples to be mentioned.

This brief overview suggests that Graz, on the one hand, seeks to position itself as a multifaceted city. On the other hand, one can detect the recurring aspect of culture (like Cultural Capital, Capital of Culinary Delights or City of literature). The notion of “culture”, as ∗ I discussed it in chapter 2 in detail, is a vague construct and “categorising theme” for the society that is based on social processes and social interaction. As such, it is largely interwoven into political and economic systems (Mitchell 1995; Duncan and Duncan 1996) and thus, it can be considered as being of high relevance to topics of urban development, urban representation and city marketing (Stevenson 2003; García 2004).

∗ Section 2.4.4. discusses “culture” and why it is relevant to city branding.

- 50 - The image of Graz being a city of culture has been nurtured in recent decades and has been extended by a creative discourse in the past ten years, ultimately leading to the City of Design ∗ theme. This is why the following section examines in which way cultural and especially creative issues are embedded within urban and regional development plans.

4.4. Cultural and creative topics in urban and regional development plans This section provides insights to the question how official documents by the city of Graz as well as by the province of Styria approach the topics of culture, creativity and the creative economy. Furthermore, I illustrate that the Creative Industries Styria (CIS) as a strategic network organisation is central to the development and communication of Graz as a City of Design and that it strengthens the local and regional creative economy.

4.4.1. STEK – “Stadtentwicklungskonzept” The urban development plan of Graz (STEK) is a good starting point to investigate political strategies. It shows several urban development objectives that can be related to cultural and partly to creative issues. Part C of the document and chapter 8 in particular defines specific objectives to shape Graz as a prosperous, “internationally recognised centre” and “source of inspiration” for the province of Styria and the country of Austria. Central in this respect is the valorisation and strengthening of the city’s image as a university town, as a city of culture and as a place of trade (Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt 2012, Part C, pp. 5; 92).

Concerning the international positioning of Graz, the STEK emphasises that the city already holds a high competitiveness within the context of European medium-sized cities. This competitiveness is particularly based on infrastructure in the areas of education, research and innovation, on highly qualified workers and on cultural attractiveness, which is described with variables like a high quality of life or high safety standards. Two thirds of all highly qualified workers of Styria are concentrated in Graz (Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt 2012, Part C, p. 92). However, the international placement of Graz as an attractive location is still clearly expendable. In this respect, the municipal government points to a rather weak international accessibility (transport connections) and to a lack of international workforce (Stadt Graz – Wirtschaft 2011, p. 6). Among the development aims for increasing Graz’s international positioning, one objective relates to the presentation of a distinctive “Baukultur” (this term points to the built environment and how people encounter it). According to the document, the

∗ cf. section 4.6.

- 51 - preservation and further development of this “Baukultur” can strengthen the city’s visual cultural image. The nomination of the Old Town and the Eggenberg Palace as a World Cultural Heritage is central in this context just like the participation at international cultural events to promote the local “Baukultur” to audiences such as visitors or investors (Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt 2012, Part C, p. 5).

Furthermore, the municipal government aims to increase cultural tourism by providing an “open and culturally rich” urban image, by promoting Graz as a “cultural capital”, a “capital of culinary delights” and a “city of knowledge”. For the city’s positioning within the national and supra-regional system the maintenance of the status as a place of trade and services and also as an industrial location is considered to be important (Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt 2012, Part C, p. 5).

“Culture” appears as a prominent topic in numerous parts of the STEK. However, a closer look in this document is required to locate objectives that highlight terms like “creativity” or “creative economy”. Creativity is explicitly mentioned in connection with the objective of strengthening Graz as a place of knowledge. In this respect, the STEK points to a particular development focus on the fields of ecology and creativity. This implies the support and expansion of the university sector, of other local research facilities and educational institutions, and an intensified cooperation between academic research institutions and the urban economy (Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt 2012, Part C, p. 6).

The importance of the local creative economy is revealed in section 8.6. of the document which deals with the urban service sector. Speaking of the city’s high concentration of public and private services, the local creative economy is highlighted due to its contribution of high- quality services to non-creative economic sectors and its share in the gross regional product, which is above average. Furthermore, Graz is described as the location where creative industries in Styria are particularly concentrated. According to the STEK, creative industries, arts festivals and various arts- and creativity-related degree programs with international demand shape Graz as an urban area with increasing creative dynamics. The corresponding urban development objective seeks to shape Graz as a “service centre” with diverse high- quality services particularly provided by creative industries (Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt 2012, Part C, pp. 92; 98).

- 52 - In the following subsection I consider the official urban economic development paper of the city of Graz as it deals more specifically with Graz as a creative location.

4.4.2. “Wirtschaftsstrategie Graz 2015” As the STEK deals primarily with culture and rather marginally with creativity I examined further relevant documents that consider Graz as a creative location. The creative economy has a prominent role in the official urban economic development strategy of the city of Graz – “Wirtschaftsstrategie Graz 2015”.

A central aspect within this document is the official development vision that the municipal government draws for the city of Graz, which I translated subsequently. The vision considers Graz as a centre of innovation based on the local creative economy and the high reputation of the city not least due to the implemented City of Design theme:

Graz is a place of research and qualification with international claim. A rapidly growing centre of innovation, technology and services with four central themes. The linkage of culture and the high delight quality of the well-recognised “City of Design” with a dynamic, modern, creative economy establishes a high quality of life. Intelligent solutions create Graz-related best-practice cases for a future-oriented and sustainable economic, ecological and social development of the municipality. Graz is developing towards the TOP 10 of European medium sized cities (Stadt Graz – Wirtschaft 2011, p. 8).

According to this document, the four designated core themes of the economic development of the city of Graz are: 1. mobility; 2. environmental technologies; 3. human technologies; 4. the creative economy. The strategy paper reveals that Graz aims to become a nationally and internationally recognised creative centre with a high reputation, where “design” is omnipresent – “a design city with a global charisma” (Stadt Graz – Wirtschaft 2011, p. 8). This should be achieved through the advancement of the local creative economy, the fostering ∗ of creative districts, the implementation of “creative thinking” in all economic activities of the municipality and through the further development of training and education opportunities. Since “creativity” is described as the crucial factor that equips products and services (and thus, the overall economy) with an added value, the central emphasis is on design. Design in

∗ The term “creative thinking” remains unspecified in this document. Yet, in chapter 6, I explain the term “design-thinking” which I consider as being applicable to this topic and as being similar to “creative thinking”.

- 53 - this respect is understood as an interface between technology and arts (Stadt Graz – Wirtschaft 2011, pp. 8; 13).

Some concrete actions to shape Graz as an innovative and creative city include: first, the positioning of Graz as a UNESCO City of Design and added to that, raising awareness for the idea that design is a holistic process that can provide benefits to the city’s economy and to ∗ each citizen as well ; second, the ongoing development of “creative spaces”, such as specific urban quarters or districts in Graz (e.g. Jakomini, Lend); third, the expansion of educational facilities like the FH JOANNEUM (university of applied sciences) because according to the document, a creative city needs qualified creative people; fourth, a straight and consistent political commitment to creative topics and projects and corresponding support, such as start- up funding (Stadt Graz – Wirtschaft 2011, pp. 13-14). The results of my analysis (chapters 6 and 7) show that people of the creative economy in Graz are well-aware of these actions and developments but there are different opinions concerning the level of success.

Interestingly, also the official programme of the “Grazer Volkspartei” (ÖVP), the political party which administrates Graz, shows an explicit commitment to the development of Graz as a City of Design. It considers the City of Design as a driving force to further strengthen the nationally and internationally well-established creative economy of Graz through the settlement of new firms and by improving the still existing lack of educational facilities for some creative branches (ÖVP 2013, pp. 20; 34).

So far, I have demonstrated that the topics of creativity and the creative economy have been recently anchored in political documents of the city of Graz. However, this particular political interest to communicate Graz as a creative “hot spot” (SFG 2013b) originates from development plans of the province of Styria. For this reason, I examine how the provincial government approaches the creative discourse in the following subsection.

4.4.3. “Wirtschaftsstrategie Steiermark 2020” The idea of creativity plays a central role in the document that illustrates the regional economic development. “Wirtschaftsstrategie Steiermark 2020” or “Economic Strategy Styria 2020” bears the subtitle “growth through innovation” (Government of Styria 2011). According to the Styrian government, international competitiveness is increasingly centred on

∗ further information is provided in chapter 6

- 54 - “knowledge-intensive regions”. The document reveals that Styria is to be formed as a knowledge-region by focusing on what the provincial government considers as Styria’s core competences, namely the knowledge-intensive fields of electronics, instrumentation and control technology, mechanical and plant engineering, materials and material technology as well as chemical and process engineering. The “creative economy” is likewise defined as a core competence because Styrian creative industries support the aforementioned fields (Government of Styria 2011, p. 19; 28). In other words, the strategy 2020 seeks to closely connect technology and creativity and to connect creative industries with other economic branches. Creative industries strongly contribute to non-creative enterprises receiving an emotional added value for their brands and products (Government of Styria 2011, p. 19).

The Styrian Business Promotion Agency (SFG) provides a meaningful description of the achievement of the creative economy that reflects very well how creativity in Styria is perceived from a political and economic viewpoint:

Creativity can be a core element for the success of businesses in order to increase productivity, improve internal processes, implement a more effective marketing, introduce plainer corporate structures and particularly bring new, innovative products on the market (SFG 2013a).

To summarise, creative industries in Styria are considered to fulfil an interdisciplinary function as they generally foster innovation processes through the application of design. Design, in this respect, is thus seen as a holistic process for product and service innovations. Creative industries are equally important for regional development and the shaping of innovative environments (Government of Styria 2011, p. 28).

As a consequence of this recently enhanced standing of the creative economy, the Creative Industries Styria (CIS) has been established to nurture and coordinate the development of Graz and Styria as creative locations. For this reason, the next subsection deals with this organisation and its defined tasks.

- 55 - 4.4.4. Creative Industries Styria (CIS) ∗ The increasing presence of the creative economy in local and regional economic debates induced the branch “Information & Consulting” of the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the economic departments of the city of Graz and the province of Styria, to commission the “Potenzialanalyse der Kreativwirtschaft im Großraum Graz”, a potential analysis for the creative industry in the Greater Graz area. Published in 2006, it reflects the most comprehensive evaluation of the creative economy in this area. The study has been carried out by Traxler et al. (2006), researchers of JOANNEUM RESEARCH, the most important extramural research institution in Styria (CIS 2009c, p. 5).

A significant outcome Traxler et al. (2006) revealed, was the absence of a central organisation which coordinates the creative development in Styria and facilitates resources and creative potentials (CIS 2009d). This is why the Creative Industries Styria (CIS) was founded in 2007, on behalf of Christian Buchmann, provincial councillor for economic affairs. It is a networking agency with the purpose of developing and expanding creative industries in Styria (SFG 2013b).

The CIS is committed to coordinating the diverse range of creative services and activities and to positioning them within the economy of Styria. In this respect the CIS serves as contact point for creative industries, as mediator between these enterprises and also as a “drop-in” centre for all kind of other businesses that intend to develop partnerships or projects with creative businesses. Its main working tasks are first, the initiation and coordination of key projects related to creative topics and second, raising consciousness for the valuable work of local creative industries on a regional, national and international level (CIS 2009d). Speaking of these levels, the central CIS-target is to develop Styria as a “hot spot”, respectively an attractive location for creative workers. Thus, creative workers from other Austrian provinces and from abroad are particular targeted groups (SFG 2013b).

Graz plays a vital role in providing an attractive creative environment because the provincial and municipal governments intend to develop it as the most attractive “second-city” in Austria, as the centre of the creative “hot spot” Styria (SFG 2013b). The city of Graz in cooperation with the province of Styria entrusted the CIS to guide the application process of Graz to become a UNESCO City of Design (CIS 2009e). The Creative Industries Styria is

∗ The roots of this increased creative discourse in Graz are illustrated in section 4.5.

- 56 - organised as a public-private partnership, owned by the Innofinanz (Styrian Research and Development Promotion Association – 80 %), the Styrian Federation of Austrian Industry (5 %), the Styrian Chamber of Commerce (5 %) and the City of Graz (10 %) (CIS 2009f).

Fig. 4.2.: Logo Creative Industries Styria Fig. 4.3.: Eberhard Schrempf, CEO of the Creative Industries Styria Sources: CIS 2013b (4.2.): CIS 2013c (4.3.)

It is however important to stress that the CIS is not a funding or promotion department as it does not provide financial support. As an organisation which is closely connected to the creative economy, it acts as the intermediary between the creative economy and the Steirische Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft (SFG – Styrian Business Promotion Agency). The SFG provides financial support for creative businesses within the scope of: first, strategic project planning; second, ideas for and implementation of creative projects; third, creative communication, a term that refers to innovative communication ideas in order to promote new products or services (CIS 2009d).

4.5. Creative roots in Graz and the path towards being a City of Design The political vision that I described in the sections above which highlights the creative potential of Graz seems to be consistent with the city’s recent past. Grubmüller et al. (2008) argue that there is a vital and strong cultural and creative “tradition” in Graz, burgeoning in ∗ the 1960s. Important milestones for this “tradition” are the Forum Stadtpark and steirischer

∗ Forum Stadtpark is both, an exhibition building in the city park and an associated network of cultural and creative artists, workers and academics (www.forum.mur.at ).

- 57 - ∗ herbst . This development continued and has been extended in the 1970s and 1980s, by ∗∗ ∗∗∗ significant institutions such as Camera Austria and Haus der Architektur and in recent decades by a variety of festivals with cultural and creative significance (CIS 2009a, pp. 27- 32). In this context, Siegfried Nagl, the current mayor of the city of Graz, specifies that Graz- based architecture and literature movements, starting in the 1960s, paved the way for the present creative scene (CIS 2009b, pp. 10-11).

The year 2003 with Graz being the European Capital of Culture can be considered as a direct consequence of these cultural urban “traditions”. Yet, that year can likewise be seen as a point of departure for a decade where the creative economy gained substantial importance. A recent diploma thesis by Mösinger (2010) analysed aspects of the economic sustainability of “Graz 2003” on the basis of qualitative interviews with 24 experts who have been directly or indirectly involved with the project. Interestingly, the majority of these interviewees mentioned the development of the creative economy in Graz and the subsequent application to become a UNESCO City of Design as the most striking outcome of the year 2003. In their opinion, the application only succeeded because of the numerous facilities (e.g. Kunsthaus Graz), institutions and activities established for the 2003 European Capital of Culture designation. At the turn of the millennium, the creative economy in Graz had no significant public reputation but the Cultural Capital initiative revealed the creative potentials of the city and their possible benefits for the economy (Mösinger 2010, pp. 102-103).

According to Heimo Lercher (2013), the former chairman of the section “Information & Consulting” of the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, this increased attention for the creative economy induced public stakeholders to commission the potential analysis for the Greater ∗∗∗∗ Graz area . Lercher himself together with the architect Marion Wicher initiated the idea of a follow-up project to this analysis that matches with the basic outcomes of the document. They detected the Creative Cities Network of the UNESCO as a great opportunity to position Graz as a creative and innovative city and raise consciousness for design and creativity. Mayor Siegfried Nagl endorsed this idea. About at the same time the Creative Industries

∗ a festival for contemporary art (www.steirischerherbst.at ) ∗∗ a world-famous institution for contemporary photography (www.camera-austria.at ) ∗∗∗ acts as an interface between architecture and the public (www.hda-graz.at ) ∗∗∗∗ described in subsection 4.4.4.

- 58 - Styria was founded. Eventually, these developments merged together into the official ∗ application for the UNESCO City of Design in 2009 (Lercher 2013).

The following section draws a brief picture of the creative economy in Graz in order to better understand the local creative framework conditions. Sections 4.7. and 4.8. illustrate the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and the City of Design designation more precisely.

4.6. The creative economy of Graz In this section I present some basic characteristics of creative industries in the Greater Graz area. The information in this respect is based on the official data of the potential analysis by ∗∗ Traxler et al. (2006).

The creative economy of Graz is an integral part of the regional economy of Styria and is predominantly related to other non-creative enterprises in Graz and in the region in order to provide creative services to them. In other words, according to the document, local creative industries mainly act as suppliers for other economic sectors (mainly through company- related services in branches such as the consumer goods industry, capital goods industry, health sector or tourism). This makes Graz’s creative economy very different from other Austrian creative environments such as Vienna or Linz, where it is a comparably independent economic sector (Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 92). Even though most of the company-oriented services are connected to the branches of architecture and design, the creative economy in Graz is considered as multilayered and heterogeneous ( ibidem , p. 92).

Yet, the document by Traxler et al. outlines that although the creative industries are well embedded in the Styrian economy, they are hardly present on the international stage and thus, its export potential is rather weak. About 75 % of the Graz-based creative businesses do not export at all and therefore put their main focus on the domestic market. This is proved by figure 4.7. For less than 10 % of the businesses the main sales market is international. About a quarter of local creative industries sell their services and products primarily all over Austria, and almost two thirds have their main market within the province of Styria. The exceptions are the Styrian film industry that predominantly produces for the international market and also

∗ The city of Graz is currently a member of three creativity-related international networks, namely the UNESCO Creative Cities Network with the City of Design, the European Creative Business Network (ECBN) and the network of Global Design Cities (GDC) (CIS 2011, Part II p. 1). ∗∗ cf. 4.4.4.

- 59 - some designers and architects which have good connections abroad (Traxler et al. 2006a, pp. 87-88). There is also a lively atmosphere of project cooperation among the local creative branches themselves. Apart from this primarily industry-related character, individual private customers are of subordinate importance to local creative businesses (Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 86).

Fig. 4.4.: Main markets of creative industries of the Greater Graz area with regard to their central service/product (telephone survey, N=507); Source: Traxler et al. 2006b, p. 77

It is also noteworthy that Traxler et al. stress the importance of branches and sectors that actually do not belong to the creative economy but hold great potentials for creative work and projects – health care for instance. Due to demographic changes, objects of daily use need to be adjusted to the requirements of an aging society. Creative industries and associated design- oriented offerings in Graz are well-equipped to meet these requirements (Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 92).

Local creative industries are predominantly small enterprises with a relatively narrow market. The share of one-person-enterprises reaches almost 40 % and the majority of creative businesses has less than six employees. More than a half of all companies have an annual turnover of less than € 130,000 and 25 % of less than € 50,000 (Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 83). It is also interesting that the annual number of creative start-up companies is very dynamic (Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 89). Due to these small structures, high mobility, flexibility and a wide spectrum of fields of activity, the creative economy of Graz has positive development prospects and is considered to be able to cope with quickly changing market requirements (Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 92).

- 60 - Figure 4.4. reveals that in 2006, the Greater Graz area accommodated almost 25,000 creative workers, a share of 12.5 % of the total employment in that area. Compared to other Styrian areas, the concentration of creative people in the Greater Graz area is significantly higher. In relation to the 42 % of all Styrian employees who lived in the Graz area in 2006, the share of all creative employees has been more than 54 % (see fig. 4.5.).

Fig. 4.5.: Self-employed and employed people in the creative economy in 2006: the Greater Graz area compared to the urban regions of Linz-Wels and Vienna 1 Districts of Graz and Graz-Umgebung (NUTS-3); 2 Districts of Linz, Linz-Land, Eferding, Urfahr-Umgebung, Wels and Wels-Land Source: Statistik Austria; AZ 2001 and research by Traxler et al. 2006 in: Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 75

Fig. 4.6.: Styrian NUTS-3 regions and their share of total employees and creative employees in the Styrian economy in % (total employees = 476,090; creative employees = 45,765) Source: Statistik Austria, AZ 2001 and calculations by Traxler et al. 2006, in: Traxler et al. 2006a, p. 78 - 61 - Figure 4.6. shows that the gross value added (GVA) of the creative economy in Graz has been more than € 1.5 billion, a share of more than 14 % of the area’s total GVA. The fact that this creative economy reflects almost 60 % of the overall creative economy of Styria underlines Graz’s status as the creative centre of the province.

Fig. 4.7.: Nominal gross value added (for cost of manufacture) in 2006, indicated in million € or shares in % Source: Statistik Austria and calculations by Traxler et al. 2006, in: Traxler et al. 2006b, p. 62

4.7. UNESCO Creative Cities Network The present discussion on the reasons why city officials position and communicate Graz as a creative design city and how the city’s creative economy can be characterized is important to understand why Graz has been officially announced as a UNESCO City of Design. In the present and the following section I introduce the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and the UNESCO City of Design theme in order to provide fundamental information which is also relevant to discuss the outcomes of my analysis in chapter 6, 7 and 8.

The Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity Initiative, an initiative launched by UNESCO in 2002, established the cornerstone to found the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in October 2004. This network of selected cities all over the world is targeted to foster UNESCO’s global priorities of a “cultural diversity” and a “sustainable urban development”. The basic idea of the network is to first, stimulate joint working schemes between public and private actors and the civil society on a local basis and second, to launch international project cooperation between the member cities in order to exchange knowledge and experiences, as well as to intensify the use of creative potentials. Member cities particularly cooperate on topics concerning the creative economy and creative tourism. In order to fulfil the mission of

- 62 - cultural diversity, UNESCO considers creative industries as the key asset to use and to foster the creative potential of cities which is a significant basis for social and economic development (UNESCO 2013a).

This is also the reason why this UNESCO project is organized as a network of cities. Urban culture is considered to be a significant influence for urban development and thus, is a basis for the consideration of the creative discourse. Already more than half of the world’s population is living in cities. Cities therefore accommodate a diverse range of actors in the cultural and creative sector and offer creative clusters with a high number of creative entrepreneurs (UNESCO 2013b).

There are seven categories in which cities can apply for a membership in the Creative Cities Network. Each city needs to select one specific category which reflects the city’s most significant “contact” with creative topics and which is in a good match to the strengths of its creative economy. Once a city is officially nominated as a UNESCO Creative City, this chosen category is simultaneously the “creative theme” (in the sense of a guideline) in which further urban endeavours to nurture the creative potential are concentrated. Since seven categories mean seven different focal points, a cross-sector management team by UNESCO operates as a linkage between the members (UNESCO 2013a). At the time of September 2013, there were 34 member cities in the following categories (UNESCO 2013c):

• UNESCO City of Literature • UNESCO City of Design Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa City, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Montréal, Dublin, Reykjavik and Norwich Nagoya, Kobe, Shenzhen, Shanghai, • UNESCO City of Film Seoul, Saint-Étienne, Beijing and Graz Bradford and Sydney • UNESCO City of Gastronomy • UNESCO City of Music Popayán, Chengdu, Östersund and Seville, Bologna, Glasgow, Ghent and Jeonju Bogota • UNESCO City of Media Arts • UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Lyon Art Santa Fe, Aswan, Kanazawa, Icheon and Hangzhou

- 63 - Cities with an interest in becoming members need to be proactive by submitting an application to the corresponding “National Commission for UNESCO”. In the case of Graz the contact point has been the “Austrian Commission for UNESCO”. If the application is approved, the actual examination is conducted by a board of experts and their conclusion is forwarded to UNESCO’s Director-General, who makes the final decision (UNESCO 2013a).

Each category implies specific prerequisites a city has to fulfil. To provide an example for these requirements and to show which particular requirements the city of Graz had to fulfil, I will discuss the City of Design criteria in the following section.

4.8. UNESCO City of Design The City of Design is one of seven titles within the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The evaluation criteria to become a UNESCO City of Design define what particular characteristics a city has to have (UNESCO 2013a):

• an established design industry • a cultural scene marked by design and an adequate built environment • design schools and design research centres • an active scene of creators/designers and design-driven creative industries • experience in hosting fairs, events and exhibits related to design • the opportunity for local designers and urban planners to take advantage of local materials and local (urban/natural) conditions

Since the UNESCO certifies that these requirements have to be fulfilled prior to becoming a City of Design, the criteria have also been positively proven for Graz (Stocker 2013, p. 8). However, “City of Design” is not only an award for already achieved objectives. It can rather be understood as a vision or a mission for the future development of the city, which in Graz is ∗ to implement design and “design-thinking” in all relevant urban agendas (CIS 2011, Part I pp. 4; 6).

Graz became the first Austrian UNESCO City of Design on March 14 th , 2011 (Stocker 2013, p. 211). Unlike the title “European Capital of Culture”, the City of Design is not temporarily

∗ The detailed meaning of this and an explanation of the term “design-thinking” is disclosed in chapter 6.

- 64 - limited. Furthermore, it is a title that comes without financial support by UNESCO (CIS 2011, Part I p. 6). Yet, there is a multitude of expected benefits connected to being a City of Design. Graz can obtain a greater international attention, the creative potential may be extended, it is likely that workplaces in the creative economy increase, the marketing of local products and services may get a higher appreciation and also tourism can receive a positive momentum (Schwar 2009, p. 12).

Fig. 4.8.: Logo Graz UNESCO City of Design Source: CIS 2013d

As I mentioned in section 4.7., a central objective amongst UNESCO Creative Cities is an inter-city cooperation. This applies also to the Cities of Design as Karl Stocker, director of two design degree programs at the JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences in Graz, thinks:

[…] there is still a lot of development potential here. As different as the approaches of the individual cities are […] it still makes sense to learn from the approaches and experiences of the various partner cities and cooperate with one other. Whether one would rather orientate oneself to the design activists of Saint-Etienne, the “Entrepreneurial Revolution” (Daniel Isenberg) in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, or to Shenzhen, the city which managed to lower the average age of its population to under 30, every city is attempting to dynamize its urban development through design, and thereby also create general conditions which will lead to an improvement in the living conditions of the population – I have formulated this optimistically in the knowledge that it is not always the case (Stocker 2013, pp. 9-10).

- 65 - Cooperation and knowledge-exchange between the UNESCO Cities of Design involves the eleven urban agglomerations as disclosed in figure 4.9.

Fig. 4.9.: The eleven UNESCO Cities of Design (by September 2013) Source: Design Bote 2013

My investigations and findings on the case study of Graz (chapters 6, 7 and 8) will also show what kind of impacts the nomination as a City of Design can have on the strategic approach of a city’s marketing and branding campaign.

4.9. Conclusion In recent years, place marketers in Graz such as the city government have shown manifold approaches in terms of communicating marketable images of Graz. Yet, one can detect the recurring aspect of culture in city marketing and more recently, a creative discourse on the local and the regional level induced public officials to define development objectives which position Graz and Styria as creative “hot spots”, ultimately leading to brand Graz as a UNESCO City of Design.

- 66 - Culture, as it constitutes social activities and interaction in any respect, is largely interwoven into the urban economy and local policy which is why it has a strong influence on urban representation and is also the basis for considerations on how creative topics emerged in city marketing (Mitchell 1995; Duncan and Duncan 1996; Stevenson 2003; García 2004). The case of Graz shows that a cultural focus on city marketing and the communication of an associated brand identity (subsection 2.4.3.) such as the “city of culture” or “Cultural Capital” can be a fertile basis for the recent commitment to creative topics in city branding in general (Stevenson 2003; García 2004; Zenker 2009) and the branding of Graz as a City of Design in particular.

As I discussed in chapter 3, the creative economy can have significant benefits for the economic development and the general competitiveness of a city. This is equally considered in current official urban and regional development plans of Graz and Styria. In these documents creative industries are defined as an intermediary that brings the local economy closer together and provides high-quality services for the visual appearance and functional usability of offerings. Thus, creative industries contribute to local enterprises as well as the city in general increasingly experiencing beneficial emotional encounters by audiences.

It is important to stress this prominent role of creative industries in the current economic and political discourse in Graz because it shows why the creative class is a target group of local branding strategies to position Graz as a UNESCO City of Design. I discuss this in detail in chapters 6 and 7, and also show that they are not just an audience but also an active part of the city. Thus, they contribute to the place image of Graz as well. The City of Design theme – whether being implemented in Graz or elsewhere – considers creative work and creative industries as an integral part towards a sustainable economic and social urban development. By considering the information in this chapter it can be assumed that the creative economy is of central significance in marketing and branding Graz as a creative city and more specifically, as a City of Design. This assumption based on the city’s recent past and current political development objectives will be under further investigation in chapters 6 and 7, where I will provide empirical evidences in this respect.

Prior to this discussion I explain my empirical working approach to this thesis, how the fieldwork developed and which particular analytical strategies I adopted to answer my research questions. Chapter 5 is dedicated to give closer insights to these topics.

- 67 - 5. Methodology 5.1. Introduction This chapter offers a discussion of the methods I employed to investigate how the City of Design brand is communicated in Graz and how members of the creative economy encounter this process. In section 5.2. I discuss the three research questions which are in the centre of my study. Section 5.3. describes the preparatory work prior to my fieldwork. In section 5.4. I explain how my fieldwork (March to May 2013) developed. In section 5.5. I discuss how I employed different elements of coding and discourse analysis (Tonkiss 1998; Potter 2004; Cope 2005) in order to analyse the collected data and to answer my research questions.

5.2. Research questions As I discussed in chapter 1, this thesis investigates current place branding strategies in the city of Graz with particular regard to the UNESCO City of Design designation. I aim to explore why the recent positioning of Graz as a City of Design can be understood as branding process and how this case study can be linked to some fundamental aspects of marketing and branding as examined in chapter 2. In order to do so I designed the following three research questions which provide three different perspectives on Graz’s potential branding process. I will answer these questions in the following two chapters (chapters 6 and 7):

RQ 1: What is the City of Design to its image producers? RQ 2: Which strategies are adopted to communicate the City of Design vision? RQ 3: How do creative people perceive Graz as a City of Design?

The research questions suggest that – apart from considering the City of Design process from ∗ the viewpoints of Graz’s “image producers” – the framework of this thesis is “limited” to a specific group of audiences as I largely focus on the creative class and how creative people encounter the City of Design branding of Graz.

I do not offer a comprehensive analysis of Graz’s residents’ perceptions and also I do not ∗∗ provide a representative sample of Graz’s population. The reason why I direct my focus to the creative class is that I consider the topic of “creativity” throughout this thesis. As I

∗ cf. 1.1. and 5.4.1. ∗∗ The reason for that is explained in my analytical approach in subsection 5.5.1.

- 68 - discussed in the chapters 2 and 3, creative city concepts are frequently adopted in marketing and branding policies (Stevenson 2003; García 2004; Zenker 2009) with the creative class as a main audience in the strategic interest of city marketers (Florida 2002; 2012). Official urban and regional development papers of Graz and Styria equally reveal that creative people are ∗ considered as central actors to shape Graz as a creative “hot spot”.

I have aimed to elaborate on this specific topic and therefore to analyse how members of the creative class individually perceived the City of Design brand. However, as the following two chapters will show I still considered aspects of citizens’ perceptions of the City of Design as well because the interviewed urban stakeholders and creative workers offered a notable discourse in this respect.

5.3. Preparations In order to generate data I primarily used semi-structured interviews. I chose this method because in answering the research questions I aimed for illustrating individual viewpoints and ∗∗ perceptions of different actors in Graz. Qualitative interviews offered the possibility that these actors expressed themselves rather freely and were therefore a suitable method to apply. Dunn (2010, p. 102; 110) argues that semi-structured interviews usually have a predetermined structure to a certain extent but the interviewer stays flexible in order to be able to ask follow- up questions which he or she has not anticipated.

I basically created two independent semi-structured lists of questions. The first list contained questions for the City of Design image producers, the second list contained questions for the creative class. With regard to the group of image producers, I used the list as a basic guideline but adjusted it for each interview partner significantly, according to the informants’ position or function. The list I created for creative workers remained much more consistent since it has been of great importance to identify individual perceptions on the same topic, namely how the City of Design branding is perceived. However, I adjusted these questionnaires to a certain extent, according to the respective interviewee and his or her field of business activity, yet the core questions stayed the same.

∗ cf. 4.4.2., 4.4.3. and 4.4.4. ∗∗ The list of informants is shown in subsection 5.4.1.

- 69 - Both lists contained between twelve to fifteen questions, the number depending on how the respective interview developed. Occasionally, statements and explanations in the first part of the interview induced me to quickly react by modifying some of the subsequent questions. At times, I even skipped a question because the interviewee forestalled the answer or it turned out that a specific question was not relevant for the research participant.

All informants were German native speakers except for one, which is why I prepared and completed the interviews in German. The only exception was the conversation with Spanish designer Almudena Nagu. I interviewed her in English because at that time she had just started to learn German and my basic Spanish language skills would not have been sufficient enough.

I chose the specific interviewees on the basis of a systematic choice instead of a random selection. In the case of the City of Design image producers it was crucial to get appointments with stakeholders of the CIS and the City of Design Board as both are central institutions in the current management of local City of Design processes. Thus, I directly contacted CIS- CEO Eberhard Schrempf and some members of the Board. The latter I chose rather randomly but was still trying to get a selection of politicians, scholars and independent economic actors including a consultant (namely Martin Krammer). Furthermore, I contacted a second consultant (Mario Weiss) right after I got a hint in my third interview (with Heimo Lercher, one of the main initiators of the City of Design process in Graz) that this consultant and his consulting function for the CIS might be interesting for my research.

As for the selection of politicians I firstly chose Andea Pavlovec-Meixner, a member of the City of Design Board with a main political interest in the creative economy; I was then able to interview the former deputy mayor Lisa Rücker. I chose her as she was actively involved in the initial years of the local City of Design process; I then interviewed Gerhard Rüsch because as a city councilor for economy and finances he is currently one of the central political actors in charge of the City of Design development. I also wanted to interview Christian Buchmann, highest official for economy, innovation and finances in the province of Styria and closely related to the CIS. However, he was not available for an interview.

As for the selection of representatives of the local creative economy, I mainly chose creative workers who seemed to already have some kind of relation to the CIS or even to the City of

- 70 - Design – not necessarily in the sense of a permanent cooperation but at least some kind of contact. The purpose of this specific selection was to ensure that the interviewees would at least have some idea or basic knowledge of the work done by the CIS. I was able to ask the respondents about the CIS and the City of Design theme in more detail without running the risk that they have never heard about it or that they have no relation and no particular opinion on the topic. In practice I contacted creative workers in Graz who I learned about, for example, by reading reports and press-releases about CIS-activities. In such documents I was able to find specific creative industries involved in specific projects. A press release in 2011, on occasion of the just achieved City of Design designation, included personal comments of some local creative workers about what City of Design meant to them personally. Thus, I contacted some of these people as well. Furthermore, I also randomly contacted some creative ∗ workers after examining the CIS online data base which offers a comprehensive list on creative companies in the city.

The share of immediate responses and the availability to meet me for an interview has been high, both from creative workers and City of Design-related stakeholders. Many respondents consequently showed an active interest in discussing the City of Design topic, regardless if they had a rather positive, a neutral, or a rather negative attitude towards the local developments in this respect.

5.4. Fieldwork The collection of the interview data refers to seventeen semi-structured interviews which took place in March, April and May, 2013. I met fifteen interviewees in person while one interview took place in written form via e-mail (with the independent graphic designer Johanna Prechtl) and another one has been organised as short interview on the telephone (with the consultant Mario Weiss). The majority of conversations took place in the offices of the informants. Besides, I met three interviewees in coffee shops. The average length of the interviews has been about half an hour. Yet, I also had some interviews which lasted for about three quarters of an hour and two short interviews (10 minutes).

∗ The register can be accessed with the following link and offers a search function for branches and sub-branches of the creative economy in Graz: http://www.cis.at/CISDB/netzwerk/index.php?lang=en

- 71 - 5.4.1. Interview partners and interview design ∗ In order to answer my first two research questions (see chapter 6), I interviewed image producers of Graz as a City of Design. With the term “image producers” I refer to three groups of actors: first, people who currently have an official function related to the City of Design project in Graz; second, people who had an official function related to the City of Design in the past; third, people who had or have any kind of other direct relationship to the City of Design project due to their personal political or economic position. More specifically I ∗∗ was able to interview the following eight actors:

• Eberhard Schrempf, CEO of the Creative Industries Styria • Martin Krammer, consultant for creative economy projects • Mario Weiss, consultant for sustainable processes and strategic organization development • Karl Stocker, university professor at FH Joanneum • Heimo Lercher, chairman of the Styrian Chamber of Commerce Sector: Advertising and Market Communication • Gerhard Rüsch, city councillor (ÖVP) • Lisa Rücker, city councillor (Green Party) • Andrea Pavlovec-Meixner, local councillor (Green Party)

I started my interviews with this group of stakeholders by asking individual questions regarding their professional function and their personal relation to the City of Design. I then enquired about their understanding of the City of Design vision and their insights into strategies and methods of the City of Design communication in Graz. Further central topics of these interviews dealt with the manifold impacts of the City of Design branding for the city of Graz and its creative economy.

I constantly adjusted the questionnaires for these City of Design image producers since some questions were clearly and sufficiently answered by the first few interviews (for instance, “What has been the main source of inspiration or the initial reason that the city of Graz applied to become a City of Design? ). At the same time the conversations revealed some

∗ Q.1: What is the City of Design to its image producers? Q.2: Which strategies are adopted to communicate the City of Design vision? ∗∗ A detailed list of the interviews and the research participants can be seen in the appendix of this thesis.

- 72 - further significant topics which I did not include in the initial questionnaire (for instance, critique regarding the political commitment to the City of Design; aspects of participation processes such as think tanks). For this reason I added emerging topics as follow-up questions.

∗ In order to answer my third research question (see chapter 7), I interviewed members of the creative class of Graz – ten informants in total. Nine interviewees were local creative workers. A tenth research participant was Almudena Nagu, a designer from Spain who is doing a half- year internship with a motion design company in Graz. I had been introduced to her during my interview with Daniel Bauer, owner of this motion design company. Heimo Lercher, general manager of an advertising agency, has also to be mentioned as an important and interesting interview partner as he represents both, a member of the local creative economy and a main initiator of the City of Design process in Graz. The interview with this specific actor therefore provided useful data to be included in the answering of all three research ∗∗ questions. In sum, I was able to interview the following 10 creative workers:

• Daniel Bauer, motion designer • Ernst Giselbrecht, architect • Mario Rampitsch, designer • Heimo Lercher, general manager of an advertising agency • Iris Kastner, owner of a shop for sustainable design • Peter Sablatnig, sales manager for office furniture • Stefan Unger, autodidact graphic designer; editor of a magazine • Mike Fuisz, managing director of a branding agency • Johanna Prechtl, product designer • Almudena Nagu, motion design trainee

The interviews with creative workers consisted of one or two initial questions concerning their individual and professional background. I then asked them for their personal impression of the City of Design process in Graz (for instance, “What do you personally expect of the City of Design development in Graz?” ), its general impacts for local development and specific impacts for creative industries. I enquired about their viewpoint on the development

∗ Q.3: How do creative people perceive Graz as a City of Design? ∗∗ A detailed list of the interviews and the research participants can be seen in the appendix of this thesis.

- 73 - and current situation of the local creative economy, and how they would assess the role of an organization like the CIS and its activities regarding the City of Design process. I concluded the conversations by asking if they had any recommendation, concern or request to the City of Design marketers. The majority of the respondents either disclosed some critique, improvement suggestions for City of Design officials or also some kind of praise.

There has been one question which caused a kind of uneasiness at times, namely “What does the term ‘creative economy’ mean to you personally?” The follow-up question enquired about their opinion about the creative economy in Graz. It caused some uneasiness because many of the creative respondents perceived this specific term (just as “design”) as becoming trivial because, according to them, it is frequently misused as a trendy word and segregates other economic branches which are creative as well.

Similarly to the interviews with City of Design image producers, I also slightly changed the prepared list of questions when speaking with creative workers. I, for instance, realised during my second interview (with architect Ernst Giselbrecht) that the CIS invited creative workers to think tank meetings prior to the application process to become a City of Design. I then started to enquire into how the informants thought about that kind of participation. However, the core questions, particularly questions concerning their personal opinions, expectations and outlooks regarding the City of Design process remained unchanged in order to get comparable data for my analysis.

5.4.2. Complementary sources In addition to the interviews I also collected information material and digital content by the Creative Industries Styria. These were helpful sources to complete my investigation on the City of Design process in Graz. A particularly important resource was also Karl Stocker’s publication The Power of Design: A Journey through the 11 UNESCO Cities of Design as it helped me to get a deeper insight into the City of Design program of the UNESCO in general.

In order to get a practical insight into the topic of design and to illustrate parts of the projects and activities related to Graz as a City of Design (see chapters 6 and 7) I did a kind of short ethnographic study (see Hoggart et al. 2002 in: Colombino 2007). I did a walking tour through the Old town of Graz and some adjacent areas. During this walking tour I visited several design shops to familiarise myself with the various aspects of design in Graz. At times

- 74 - I also briefly spoke with some of the shopkeepers to experience further local opinions on the City of Design process. Yet, I did not include these insights in the discussion of my research questions since the conversations did not reveal substantially new viewpoints compared to my interview data. Furthermore, I photographed visible evidences of the City of Design promotional campaigns. This involved, for instance, taking pictures of the static City of Design foils (see section 6.3.1.) and of street furniture projects (see section 7.5.1.).

5.4.3. Recording and transcription Each interview was audio recorded with the consent of the respondents and I also took notes (see Dunn 2010, p. 119). I did the recording with my MP3 player to keep the possibility of transferring the audio files to my computer in the case of a necessary digital enhancement if some parts would have been not understandable. Yet, the quality has been sufficiently good to directly transcribe the data from the MP3 player into the files of my text processing programme. In addition, I took some notes during the interviews, particularly when the respondents strongly highlighted something or when I got hints which would help me with my further research. For instance, hints on further information on the topic or suggestions concerning other informants who might be relevant to my study. Due to such references I decided, for example, to interview city councillor Gerhard Rüsch and also university professor Karl Stocker.

I fully transcribed all seventeen interviews. I wanted to keep all the collected information together, considering the whole body of text as potentially relevant at the beginning of my analysis. With my actual transcription I refrained from an extensive use of transcription techniques like often done in conversation analysis and discourse analysis (see for example Ross 2010; Dunn 2010). Such techniques require broad sets of standardised symbols and display complex systems to transcribe interview characteristics like detailed features of breath or change in speaking volume etc. I also did not stick too much to a standardised catalogue of symbols like illustrated by Dunn (2010, p. 120-122). I rather agree with Taylor (2001, p. 37), who argues that transcribing interviews in great detail is often unnecessary and bears the disadvantage of being extremely time-consuming. Another argument which has been of even greater importance for me in deciding to keep the transcription straightforward is that detailed transcripts with a broad set of applied symbols may be a complex and difficult basis for the further analysis (Taylor 2001, p. 37).

- 75 - For this reason, I developed my own system of data transcription by keeping it rather simple. I used standard characters of punctuation like full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, hyphens etc. For instance, if an interviewee stressed something in particular I used an exclamation mark. When a statement was expressed even stronger and in a rather enthusiastic way I used capital letters. A brief pause in the talk was indicated by suspension marks. If the pause lasted for a longer time I added the approximate duration in seconds to the suspension marks. However, what particularly helped me to capture the manner of expression and the emotional condition of respondents was to use square brackets which included my personal comments. For instance, when a respondent got into an enthusiastic or annoyed mood due to his or her opinion on a particular topic, I often described in my own words in square brackets how that expression came to light or – if it was obvious to me – why this was articulated. Furthermore, I used square brackets also when I wanted to include some information which would help me later during the analysis.

In the major part of the transcription process I desisted from writing down dialectic features since this would have been an excessive effort with little usefulness. Even though most of the interviewees spoke in a certain form of German dialect, the dialect has not been very prominent and in many cases it was even closer to standard German. However, I always transcribed dialectical expressions when I thought it would have been important for the analysis.

The analysis itself is based on the original transcripts in German language for two reasons: first, the translation of the whole interview data (about 140 unformatted text pages) would simply have been too much time-consuming irrelevant; second, the analysis in German language allowed me to adhere to the original expressions while a translation would probably have entailed a loss of some significant phrases and meanings. Hence, I translated only those parts of the interviews which I used as direct quotations relevant to my analysis.

5.5. Analysing Graz’s representation as a UNESCO City of Design 5.5.1. Analytical approach For the evaluation and interpretation of my interview data I chose to follow some principles of coding and discourse analysis. For this reason I used different elements of these techniques with particular regard to Tonkiss (1998), Potter (2004) and Cope (2005). Typically studies which involve qualitative surveys, questionnaires, ethnographic techniques etc. make use of

- 76 - discourse analysis in order to make language, namely specific articulations and expressions, transparent in order to understand its specific meaning (Potter 2004, p. 607).

Tonkiss (1998, p. 253) highlights that the approach to discourse analysis is not to give representative results but to analyse and reflect how specific realities are articulated through language. Equally, I did not intend to provide a representative sample of the public opinion on the City of Design theme because I did not decide to examine how Graz’s citizens in general encounter the branding. As Colombino (2007, p. 126) explains, scholars use representative samples in order to explore general trends and do this through large-scale studies. These usually imply quantitative interviews aiming for quick and concise answers. However, I aimed to collect data that offered detailed explanations and that showed individual viewpoints as I wanted to examine the specific meanings and perceptions of how the City of Design branding is encountered by stakeholders and by members of a target audience, namely the creative class.

According to Potter and Wetherell (1994, p. 55) discourse analysis is a “craft skill” which – similar to bike riding – one cannot simply learn by describing it. It can be learned gradually by practising it. For this reason I want to stress that this thesis is the first time I have used discourse analysis. I have developed my own approach which adopts some techniques of discourse analysis, namely those that where the most useful for processing the data I gathered through my fieldwork. In the following subsection I discuss the main phases of my analysis.

5.5.2. Analytical steps I initially grouped the seventeen interview transcripts into two categories, according to the two research questions. Category 1 consisted of eight transcripts of interviews with City of Design image producers (including the short interview with consultant Mario Weiss). Category 2 consisted of ten transcripts of people of the local creative economy (including the short interview with designer Almudena Nagu). There are only 17 transcripts because I included the interview with Heimo Lercher – who is both a main initiator of the City of ∗ Design positioning of Graz and a member of the creative class – in both categories.

Secondly, I read through the transcripts of each category as if it were a single long text body and searched for recurring patterns and themes and recurring terms and phrases, which I

∗ cf. 5.4.1.

- 77 - highlighted by hand. One of these consistent patterns, for example, was the articulation of a specific definition of “design”: namely, as a structural and functional process instead of a pure beautification of objects. Or, to name a second example, I could identify that some sort of critique on local politicians occurred amongst most of the interviews.

I then defined key categories according to the most significant patterns which emerged, i.e. those relevant to my research questions. Additionally, I defined some significant recurring terms as codes in order to locate relevant data and to associate it to the defined key categories (see following paragraph). As for the coding, I refer to Cope (2005, p. 224-227). She describes the application of descriptive and analytic codes. Descriptive codes can be seen as simple and obvious category labels while analytic codes are rather interpretive. I adopted both descriptive and analytic codes for my analysis which allowed me to narrow my data down to a clear and workable amount of information. During the early stage I applied descriptive codes.

When, for instance, dealing with the transcripts of the creative workers I defined a total of five descriptive key categories. I use two examples to illustrate this in detail: One of the five categories was “structural and institutional issues”. There I intended to find aspects concerning individual perceptions of the political commitment to the City of Design, of potential strengths and weaknesses in the organisational structure of the City of Design and of aspects of participation. For this reason, I defined descriptive codes like “ politics”, “policy”, “bureaucracy”, “participation” or “think tank” for this category. A second descriptive key category was “urban development and change” . Here I intended to locate passages from the text, namely first, about the recent urban development and how this led Graz to apply for the City of Design status, and second, concerning the potential impact of the City of Design process for the current and future urban development. For this category I defined both general codes which point to altering conditions (for instance “development”, “change”, “process”, “time” etc.) and more specific codes like “urban development”, “urban planning” or “cultural capital”.

Having my categories and codes prepared, I read the interview transcripts again, but this time not as a single long text anymore but individually. I manually applied the defined key categories to the transcripts by highlighting all of those sections and phrases which seemed to be of relevance for one of the defined themes. I marked the relevant sections with highlighters, using five different colours for the five key categories.

- 78 - My analysis then continued with a computer-based procedure. I applied the defined descriptive codes to my transcripts by using the search function of my text processing programme. I examined all displayed hits by the search function. In some cases the hits have been included in already highlighted sections, yet in other cases this electronic search revealed additional relevant extracts from the interviews.

As a result of this combined manual and automatic search for relevant text passages I created a new file which included all highlighted sections of the interviews and I organised them into the thematic categories. This remaining text body reflected the data I used from the interviews to answer the three research questions.

For the further analysis of this data I defined analytic codes (with regard to Cope 2005, p. 224-227) in order to identify positive and negative expressions. The aim of this was to detect whether informants tended to use specific positive or negative expressions in order to show if their general attitude could have been related to this use of language. The application of analytic codes to the transcripts revealed that some interviewees tended to use a rather positive language (frequent use of terms like “good”, “nice”, “great”, “interesting”, “awesome” , “strong” etc.) when speaking of the City of Design and corresponding developments. Others took a quite neutral position. There was just one interview where rather negative expressions prevailed (frequent use of terms like “bad”, “weak”, “wrong”, “nothing” , “missing” etc.). Nonetheless, basically all interviews were characterised by a mixture of endorsement and criticism.

I also adopted a further technique of discourse analysis, namely looking for consistencies (repetition of key terms) and variations (different opinions on common topics) within the text. Tonkiss (1998, p. 255-257) argues that already the simple process of paying attention to the repetition of key terms and key phrases reveals what an interviewee might want to particularly express. That was quite useful for my analysis since many respondents tended to repeat specific terms. As for aspects of variation, Tonkiss (1998, p. 255) describes variations in two ways: first, internal inconsistencies may occur within one text (one interview) and second, variations may occur between different accounts. I did not detect a significant occurrence of internal inconsistencies in my transcripts but I detected some disagreements among different respondents, particularly when considering political topics, financial issues (funding) and development processes in the city of Graz.

- 79 - 5.6. Conclusion The interviews I conducted for this thesis together with selected techniques of coding and discourse analysis helped me to explore how the City of Design branding of Graz is approached by local image producers and how the branding is perceived by representatives of the local creative economy.

By comparing how City of Design image producers articulated their individual understanding of “design” and “City of Design” I was able to explore how the basic vision of the current branding process of Graz is encountered by involved stakeholders, coming from different fields of the local economy and municipal policy. Also I was able to use elements of discourse analysis in order to analyse how stakeholders understood the implementation of the City of Design principles into Graz’s urban development practice. My aim to interview a diverse group of City of Design-related actors, including the CIS, politicians, economic actors, consultants and scholars, turned out to be very beneficial as I was able to show that different interest groups of Graz share quite similar viewpoints of how the branding can be useful for Graz’s overall development.

Equally, the application of selected techniques of discourse analysis was useful to provide an account of how members of the creative class, coming from most diverse branches such as architecture, product design, advertising or design-related sales and distribution, perceive the City of Design process. I was also able to show which kind of expressions they used to underpin their basic attitudes in this respect and if they tended to articulate their viewpoints rather positively, neutral or negatively. In doing so, I was also able to highlight that the perceived image of Graz as a City of Design that creative workers expressed was quite consistent with the intended vision of the city marketers.

A very simple adoption of a short ethnographic study (see Hoggart et al. 2002 in: Colombino 2007) helped me to familiarise myself with the topic of “design” and “City of Design”. A walking tour through Graz, including the photographing of visible evidences of City of Design activities and spontaneous conversations with shopkeepers broadened my understanding of the positioning of Graz as a City of Design.

The following two chapters (chapters 6 and 7) discuss the practical outcomes which are based on the interviews and the adopted analytical approach I described in this chapter. Chapter 6 is

- 80 - therefore dedicated to showing how local image producers adopt marketing and branding strategies in order to communicate Graz as a City of Design. Chapter 7 offers a discussion of how representatives of Graz’s creative economy encounter the branding through expressed endorsement and criticism.

- 81 - 6. Brand Identity and Communication Strategies: Graz as a UNESCO City of Design

6.1. Introduction In this chapter I try to offer an answer to my first two research questions: 1. What is the City of Design to its image producers? 2. Which strategies are adopted to communicate the City of Design vision? I use the term “image producers” to include public officials and other local stakeholders who have or had an official function or any other kind of direct relationship to the City of Design branding.

The chapter is structured in four core sections. Section 6.2. illustrates how place marketers in Graz perceive the notion of “design” and why they consider the City of Design process and the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as relevant to Graz’s development. The section also reveals the brand identity (cf. Aaker 1996; Rainisto 2003) of Graz as a City of Design and why creative industries matter in this respect. In section 6.3. I discuss the strategies and concrete project implementations used to communicate the City of Design to local audiences and on the international stage. In section 6.4. I offer a brief reflection concerning organisational weaknesses that occurred in the process implementation in Graz so far. In the conclusion (section 6.5.) I provide the most important findings of this chapter on the strategic brand management of Graz as a City of Design.

6.2. What is the City of Design to its image producers? This section discusses how the interviewed marketers of the local City of Design process consider the project’s implementation in Graz. The informants illustrate how they would like to see the City of Design process publicly encountered. Seven interviewees therefore expressed their personal understanding of “design” as this notion is the conceptual basis for the City of Design theme. Their opinion is of particular importance because in their respective functions they have a certain influence on the positioning of the City of Design brand.

6.2.1. The Graz approach to “design” and “design-thinking” The informants describe “design” with a remarkable consistency. It is understood as comprehensive process that reaches far beyond the shaping or styling of a product, far beyond its physical appearance. Design is rather considered as a process that has an interdisciplinary

- 82 - function “which intervenes in all spheres of life, all sections, all disciplines” (Schrempf 2013). It this sense, design is largely about the way how certain issues are approached rather than just a “result” (Schrempf 2013). Lisa Rücker, city councillor and former deputy mayor of Graz, considers both designing objects and designing municipal decision processes as part of how design itself needs to be perceived:

How can design… be understood as process […] whether it is a public participation process, or […] planning a building and its surrounding, or specifically if we consider administrative procedures – how can we understand these sort of things as something that we say […] this is design as well […] if we consider what do we want as a result and what usefulness should it have? (Rücker 2013)

University professor Karl Stocker, author of The Power of Design: A Journey through the 11 UNESCO Cities of Design , describes that his idea of design is likewise “not just about… prettifying surfaces. […] my notion of design is rather with design […] to contribute to the life of the population by improving it and making it more pleasant” (Stocker 2013).

Closely related to this term is the notion of “design-thinking” which describes a basic personal attitude to consider and deal with tasks in a practical, functional and foresighted manner and therefore simplify processes in any respect. Thus, “design-thinking” means designing products, services and not least our urban living spaces in a way that makes “life easier and better” , as local councillor Andrea Pavlovec-Meixner (2013) claims. For this reason, Eberhard Schrempf, CEO of the Creative Industries Styria, stresses that

[…] the target was to introduce design to the urban agenda […] Why? Because […] design is a lever for urban development! Regardless if it is […] the [urban] user interface […] or services by the municipality […] if it is for example the integration of enterprises and investors into the urban growth process. Or if there are issues like… Vienna and Graz are the fastest growing cities in Austria – how do we deal with issues like that, what does urban development in this respect mean? These are things where design can contribute a lot, where via design-thinking or via design-relevant methods… maybe an objective can be achieved differently (Schrempf 2013).

- 83 - This basic assumption that design affects a city’s development is strategically adopted for the City of Design brand as I will argue in the following subsection.

6.2.2. What is the City of Design brand in practice? The City of Design brand applies the idea of design which I have just described and, according to the major part of the interviewees, aims to adopt design-thinking in urban development processes. It is for instance, a question of design how authorities in charge deal with emerging issues in the wake of a constant population growth, as the city of Graz has experienced it in recent years. The practical purpose of the implementation of the City of Design process in Graz is best described by CIS-CEO Eberhard Schrempf. He considers design and the conceptual framework of the City of Design brand as being central to municipal decision-making and also emphasises the important role of the Creative Cities Network in this respect:

Why do we buy THIS tram, why do we buy THIS park bench, why do the dustbins look exactly how they look like and how do we design areas [public spaces] in future?… [how do we approach] neighbourhood development […] like the Jakomini district or Annenstraße? This is how the City of Design will be measured. How is transportation going to be developed, how do we deal with issues that occur in the urban surroundings? That means that not the projects by us [the CIS]… like a design conference or the Designmonat [Design Month festival] which constitute the City of Design, but rather […] how will a smart city develop? […] how liveable is the city in ten or twenty years if it annually grows by 10,000 inhabitants? These are all essential questions which should be solved as City of Design and of course… can also be solved with the […] international network [UNESCO Creative Cities Network]. Because many things do not need to be [newly] developed, there are other cities which have the same issues and where they maybe already have solutions or approaches […] and this is also the purpose of the network (Schrempf 2013).

The City of Design process is described as “a huge potential for the city of Graz and a crucial factor for the urban development” (Rüsch 2013) because it is “ONE vehicle to come closer to sustainability. IF we develop [the process] well” (Rücker 2013).

- 84 - These statements and a variety of further arguments offered by the informants, provide sufficient insights to consider the “Graz UNESCO City of Design” brand identity. The city’s identity in this respect can be considered as a city that offers creativeness and innovation in any respect. Thus, it stands synonymously for a city that is capable of approaching and solving urban development issues, provides a high quality of life, a dynamic and attractive business environment and a culturally diverse and open character which fosters practical ideas and solutions in any respect. Yet, I want to stress that this is my conclusion of a multitude of opinions on what Graz as a City of Design stands for. During my investigations I did not detect an exclusively defined identity but rather several comments and official statements that try to communicate different aspects of the label “City of Design”. In that sense, the brand identity is not expressed with one specific slogan but with several approaches to the multifaceted character of this brand.

However, the conversations with consultants and particularly with CIS-CEO Eberhard Schrempf made clear that it is not the main intention to lavish the public with “City of Design” stickers and promotional campaigns or to overwhelm people by labelling any local design movement with this designation. Schrempf (2013) stresses that establishing the brand “Graz City of Design” is of course important but at this early stage of the process implementation is not the most urgent task. It is of a greater importance that “design follows content” (Schrempf 2013), which means to consistently implement projects and processes which reflect the principles and benefits of design-thinking. In that sense, “design” should be anchored in the minds of citizens so far that it becomes a “natural discourse” or a “naturalised way” of dealing with urban problems. If this succeeds it might also foster public identification with the City of Design and thus, it might give the brand “indirectly” a stronger appearance.

If now the question occurs how the City of Design marketers want to successfully establish the brand and communicate its identity to the public if not through promotion, I want to respond by anticipating two aspects which I further discuss in section 6.3.: first, there are still specific marketing or advertising activities to publicly position the brand; second, such promotional campaigns are rather considered to provide a necessary first step to introduce that there is a City of Design process in Graz. Yet, I got the impression that it is of a greater importance to brand Graz – as I used to describe it in the previous paragraph – “indirectly” as a design city, namely through the ongoing presentation of the strong practical benefits of design and its potential to positively shape Graz as an urban living space. This happens for

- 85 - instance through practical showcase projects at a variety of events like design festivals or design-related lectures, where creative industries are able to present their work. In sum, the purpose is to make those people who do not work in the creative economy aware of design and connect it with positive perceptions.

Subsequently, I offer the key objectives of the City of Design process in Graz.

6.2.3. Key objectives in the branding of Graz as a City of Design Four major development objectives in the branding of Graz as a City of Design crystallised itself out of my interviews with the City of Design image producers. At present, these objectives have a rather visionary character as they are based on a long-term orientation.

First, through the branding of Graz as a City of Design city officials aim to publicly communicate that design has a high value for the city’s development and that it is a comprehensive process from which the local economy and “all residents” can benefit (e.g. additional employment through growth of the creative industries sector; stimulation of other industrial sectors; enhancement of the functionality of objects in daily use etc.). This idea is particularly important to make it transparent and easily comprehensible why Graz is investing to nurture its image of a creative design city.

Second, City of Design demonstrates that creative industries are a main source of innovation, ∗ are central for the actual application of design services and have an important interdisciplinary role within the general economy. This is why they are communicated as significant sectors which make Graz a creative city. Equally there is general economic focus ∗∗ on the positioning of Graz as a City of Design which city councillor for economy and finances Gerhard Rüsch and other informants highlighted: “for me, City of Design is first and foremost a project of economic development. […] that City of Design facilitates jobs, employment… and also start-up companies” (Rüsch 2013). Especially in the conversations with politicians I detected a greater emphasis on the economic sphere of the City of Design project. I consider this as not surprising as I got the impression that there is a lot of pressure

∗ Yet, the majority of interviewees made clear that creative services and design-thinking also appear in many sectors which are not classified as creative industries. ∗∗ Despite this specific focus most of the conversations dealt with the City of Design as a political and societal process. Hence, the highlighted economical interests in the brand do not interfere with the illustration of the City of Design as a comprehensible urban development agenda.

- 86 - on the municipal policy to justify the branding process and the corresponding municipal expenditures to the general public. That such a justification might be most visible through ∗ economical growth data is mentioned by a total of five respondents.

Third, branding Graz as a City of Design fosters inter-urban exchange of knowledge and resources. This is why the UNESCO Creative Cities Network has been frequently mentioned, mainly in the sense that Graz can benefit from external viewpoints on design, on the creative economy and on approaches to urban development challenges. Heimo Lercher, one of the main initiators of the City of Design process in Graz, highlights that Graz needs to take an active position in the network:

The obligation in a network first and foremost means to actively participate as initiator on the one hand and as host for visits and impulses from other [network members] on the other hand (Lercher 2013).

This appearance in the international Creative Cities Network is also connected with the fourth objective, namely that the City of Design brand advances the city’s international positioning and entails an increased international attention for the city of Graz. Consultant Martin Krammer and university professor Karl Stocker highlight that Graz is both, UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site and UNESCO City of Design. This is a quite unique feature for a medium-sized city such as Graz. Thus, it bears the chance for Graz to establish itself more easily in the international network and to position itself as a distinct cultural and creative location, compared to many cities worldwide who implement similar creative city strategies (Krammer 2013; Stocker 2013).

[City of Design] is of course a matter of positioning. […] Graz is able to use the title UNESCO City of Design to position and differentiate itself as… let’s say as centre of knowledge, location of culture and creativity, so to say as a hot spot… in the urban competition […] (Schrempf 2013).

In the following section I discuss how the communication and the strategic positioning of Graz as a creative city and as a City of Design become visible in practice.

∗ Yet, about half of the interviewees stressed that it is not advisable to excessively quantify the City of Design project as it also concerns rather intangible processes, such as changing public perceptions.

- 87 - 6.3. Strategic communication of the City of Design vision This section discusses how Graz’s place marketers communicate the topics of design and City of Design to the public, namely through some large-scale and numerous small-scale projects and events. Subsections 6.3.1. and 6.3.2. provide an overview on the City of Design communication in Graz. Subsection 6.3.3. discusses approaches that are adopted to present ∗ the topic on the international stage.

6.3.1. Strategies to communicate the City of Design to local audiences The central institutions that constitute the strategic management of the City of Design project ∗∗ are the CIS (on behalf of the municipal government) and the City of Design Board , installed by the CIS itself. This Board is an “advisory panel of experts” (Krammer 2013) that “provide[s] inputs and feedback for current projects that are promoted by the CIS” (Lercher 2013). The Board is composed of CIS-CEO Eberhard Schrempf, representatives of the creative economy, scholars, politicians and other city officials. It is of particular strategic importance for the City of Design communication since each member can be seen as an “ambassador” who does active lobbying for the City of Design project. The other main tasks of the Board are the strategic project management of the City of Design and the generation of impulses for project developments (Lercher 2013). Furthermore, Trigon Consulting is a third strategic actor in the City of Design branding. Trigon provides a permanent professional consultancy for the CIS’s work in developing processes and networking (Weiss 2013).

In contrast to most other Cities of Design, the public communication of this new pace identity already started before Graz achieved the City of Design designation. It started with the application process in 2009, in order to early communicate that “design matters”. The brand has been introduced by an “aggressive” strategy. Four of seven people base this impression on the fact that “[…] it has been the first time that […] a city that wanted to become a City of Design actually used an aggressive strategy which immediately addressed the general public” (Stocker 2013). Public advertising and new events (for instance the introduction of the ∗∗∗ Designmonat, the Design Forum or assembly ) paved the way for the City of Design theme.

∗ However, I want to stress that several projects are directed to both domestic and international audiences and therefore cannot be simply classified into domestically- or internationally-oriented strategies. ∗∗ cf. section 4.4.4. ∗∗∗ cf. section 6.3.2.

- 88 - Eberhard Schrempf thinks that “[…] it was right to push [design and the City of Design theme] because… even though creative industries do not take a direct benefit from it… the appreciation for creative work […] is at a higher level” (Schrempf 2013). Thus, this early promotion aimed to raise the public attention for the potential benefits of adopting the City of Design principles to Graz.

Fig. 6.1.: Public information campaign “City of Design zu sein heißt, …” (“Being a City of Design means …”) Source: CIS 2011, pp. 17-18; 22

When Graz officially became a City of Design in 2011, the information campaign “City of Design zu sein heißt, …” (“Being a City of Design means …”) started. Its purpose was to inform the general public about the just achieved title and its purpose. Equally to the application period, it has been the major target to inspire people by this development and to improve the awareness for design and the creative economy. The campaign consisted of classic advertising efforts with banners in the public space (figure 6.1.), information folders and items like shopping bags, table tents, pads and pencils, balloons or beer coasters which all provided different informative aspects about the City of Design. Furthermore the campaign

- 89 - applied the strategy of shop labelling, which is currently still visible in the city (figure 6.2). Static foils with the phrase “Graz UNESCO City of Design” stick on the windows of several local shops, hotels and other facilities. In doing so, the campaign also sought to get people of these facilities onboard of the branding process by making them a sort of City of Design ambassadors, most obviously creative industries but also, for instance, companies from the branches of gastronomy and tourism, commerce and craft (CIS 2011, p. 16-25).

Fig. 6.2.: “Graz UNESCO City of Design” -foils, seen at shop windows in Graz’s city centre Photos: Michael Bodner, August 1 st , 2013

As I already discussed in section 6.2., these promotional campaigns presenting the “Graz City of Design” status are important but not the primary activities by local place marketers. Design in Graz and the associated City of Design brand are rather publicised through the encouragement and application of design processes in public projects and events. The following subsection illustrates a few current examples in this respect.

6.3.2. Active City of Design communication through projects and events Karl Stocker’s book The Power of Design discloses that the City of Design is specifically communicated through the key project Designmonat ( Design Month ). This annual event is

- 90 - based on a multitude of design-related projects, events and lectures which show the multiple benefits of design in practice and is visited by about 70,000 visitors each year (CIS 2012, p. 7). Designmonat deals with implementing design-awareness on both the local scale and international sphere by involving external creative workers (in 2012, people from Argentina, the U.S., the Netherlands etc. participated in key events; CIS 2013a, p. 1).

Fig. 6.3.: Redesign the Market – project at Designmonat 2013 Source: Alexander Rauch Photography 2013

- 91 - One of many practical project examples of the 2013 Designmonat is Redesign the Market (figure 6.2.). In the course of this project, ten creative workers redesigned ten market stalls of the Kaiser-Josef-Market, the largest farmer’s market in Graz. They redesigned sales areas, price tags, packaging, logos etc. in order to put design in the context of the daily market bustle and to show that design can even be useful to generate an added value for regional products (Pavlovec-Meixner 2013). A strategic aim of such practical applications is to make design processes more tangible and better understandable for people. Yet, Heimo Lercher highlights that in addition to the Designmonat there is still a need to organise a whole range of further visible activities to show that “Graz […] actively participates in the [Creative Cities] network” (Lercher 2013).

The Design Forum is another central institution with the purpose of communicating design in Graz. Located in the Kunsthaus (art museum in Graz) it presents changing exhibitions on product and industrial design. Urban design festivals with international character, such as assembly, likewise foster the national and international positioning of Graz as a City of Design (Stocker 2013, p. 212).

Additionally to well-established large-scale projects such as Designmonat and Design Forum , local councillor Andrea Pavlovec-Meixner (2013) thinks that frequent activities in a smaller setting are of particular importance to make the City of Design visible to the public:

[Making design] visible in the public space. […] it happened for example through two projects for street furniture in the public space. ∗ […] that people recognise that they derive a concrete benefit from being City of Design (Pavlovec-Meixner 2013).

A further aspect of making the City of Design more visible in the public space is the revitalisation of the Jakominiviertel (district of Jakomini in Graz). This is a pilot project by the CIS and has been launched during the application period for the City of Design. Its purpose is to increase Jakomini’s attractiveness for enterprises (for instance through public funding for new business settlements) in order to reduce the vacancy rates especially in the streets of Jakoministraße and Klosterwiesgasse . These streets have also been coloured with red running tracks in order to make them visually more appealing and to establish a “visible identity” for this neighbourhood (CIS 2012, p. 8). Five informants mentioned Project

∗ I describe Design von GRA-Z as one of these street furniture projects in more detail in subsection 7.5.1.

- 92 - Jakominiviertel as quite successful because the vacancy rates have dropped considerably over the last few years.

The official web presence of Graz as a City of Design (www.graz-cityofdesign.at ) and the City Guide Graz provide collected information on what Graz as a City of Design offers. The website reveals the range of local potentials, events and projects in this respect and communicates it to domestic and international audiences (CIS 2012, p. 9). Similarly Graz’s City Guide (see figure 6.4.) is a “visible sign for a vibrant City of Design” (CIS 2012, p. 6). This book – available in German and English – indicates 185 shops, restaurants and hot spots of Graz as a City of Design. It also introduces 18 “personalities” from the creative scene to the reader and presents their personal recommendations for discovering the City of Design (CIS 2012, p. 6).

Fig. 6.4.: A glance of the City Guide Graz Source: CIS 2013e

Some strategies are also specifically directed to foster awareness and acceptance of the City of Design among the local creative scene. A series of think tank-meetings took place at a very early stage (spring 2008), even before the official application had been submitted to the UNESCO (CIS 2009a). The CIS invited a broad range of creative workers and other experts, such as architects, graphic designers, product designers, university lecturers or goldsmiths, in order to involve them in the initial phase of the City of Design (Lercher 2013). The purpose of these meetings was to collect different opinions of creative individuals on the upcoming City of Design process. The participants also discussed how the City of Design process in Graz can be approached to make it beneficial for local entrepreneurs and for the city’s development in

- 93 - general. With these think tanks, the CIS aimed to avoid that the City of Design is a purely political process imposed from above, but rather a process supported by the local creative ∗ scene. Furthermore, since 2009, CIS network-journeys encourage local creative workers to get fresh insights into other creative cities and to share experiences and to actively network with domestic and international colleagues (Pavlovec-Meixner 2013).

These aspects of communication of the City of Design can be seen as processes aiming to convince citizens, visitors and local economic actors of the benefits that the City of Design can bring to Graz. Basically all interviewed stakeholders argue that the information campaigns have been partly successful in communicating design to the public. They highlighted that networking efforts by the CIS and associated events such as the Designmonat have been most successful in convincing other economical sectors of the beneficial function ∗∗ of design and creative industries but not so much the majority of individual citizens.

In the following subsection I discuss the strategies implemented to promote Graz as a City of Design on the international level.

6.3.3. Strategies to communicate the City of Design to the international stage A greater international visibility of Graz is a central target of city officials and the City of Design theme has already contributed to a positive development in this respect. Through ∗∗∗ media reports and through its participation at international network events like the Annual General Meeting of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Graz has received increased attention. At the 2012 meeting Graz actively participated in the sub-network meeting of the UNESCO Cities of Design by discussing for example future projects and initiatives that bring the growing network of creative cities closer together or by exhibiting creative products of selected designers (CIS 2013a, pp. 1-2).

Graz tried to actively communicate its urban potentials and capabilities as soon as it was involved in the Creative Cities Network. Among the interviewees there were two informants –

∗ Annually organised journeys for creative workers in order to discover other design cities; CIS network journeys already led to Berlin, Istanbul, Milan, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Seoul, Montréal, Buenos Aires, Helsinki and Saint-Étienne (CIS 2012, p. 8); cf. 7.6.1. ∗∗ Subsection 7.3.1. considers the issue that citizens have not yet really become attracted to the City of Design. ∗∗∗ Several Austrian and international publishers of print and online media reported about Graz as a City of Design; international (especially Asian) film teams visited Graz and documented its City of Design features.

- 94 - Martin Krammer and Karl Stocker – who had been entrusted with the task of representing Graz on the international stage and especially to the potential new network partners of the Creative Cities Network. Both Krammer and Stocker visited several Cities of Design in 2010 and 2011. The introduction of Graz to these external audiences in specific took place through personal presentations for local politicians and other officials, combined with videos and brochures (especially the official application-booklet of Graz). Krammer and Stocker also did active lobbying and networking with the respective stakeholders such as politicians, scholars with a focus on design and representatives of the creative economy. In his function as head of two design-oriented departments at the FH Joanneum in Graz, Karl Stocker developed several partnerships with international universities (i.e. Kobe and Nagoya in Japan, Shenzhen in China and Saint-Étienne in France) to foster exchange in the field of design-related education. When consultant Martin Krammer promoted Graz to the international stage he stressed that it was important to highlight both the new and old influences coming from the city:

Well, how did we communicate Graz? …there are […] benchmarks which characterise the city: […] the size of the city compared to the number of students […] the long history […] the fact that the urban development is strongly culturally dominated, not just economically […]; […] the interplay of old and new […] the whole topic of Old town, World Cultural Heritage […]; this entire way towards the Cultural Capital and […] as a consequence of the Cultural Capital […] the UNESCO [City of Design] application […]; to consider culture as strategic target and as important element of urban development and urban coexistence. In this way it has been communicated. [The fact that Graz is both, a World Cultural Heritage and a City of Design is] a real unique selling point. […] continuing building, continuing living in this World Cultural Heritage and this aspect of creative industries […] is a relatively unique combination. And this is how we have communicated [Graz], in this way it has also been grasped positively […] (Krammer 2013).

Krammer further reveals that a substantially new aspect has emerged during this promotional period between 2010 and 2011. The Creative Cities Network hosts a lot of cities located in Asia and on the American continent. Krammer argues that Europe is often seen as an intermediary (particularly mentioned by officials of Asian cities) or as a “sort of translation element between cultures. And we have early noticed that there is an expectation regarding Graz […]. [...] our strategy […] we try to provide a strong communicative contribution in

- 95 - this network” in the sense of a mediation between American and Asian culture (Krammer 2013). This aspect formed the basis for the strategic communication of Graz as a “kind of bridge between these cultures” (Krammer 2013). Hence, this argument formed the second pillar of Krammer’s presentation of the city of Graz, additionally to its historic and present potentials.

Stocker, Krammer and three further respondents stressed that the Graz in general and specifically Graz as a City of Design appears to be encountered very positively and with a much more favourable attitude than citizens of Graz do: “[in these cities] you realise that the external perception of the City of Design Graz is a very big and good one” (Stocker 2013). Although there are ongoing efforts to communicate the City of Design in the local public space, Stocker (2013) has “the feeling that in Graz [the City of Design positioning] got stuck a little bit. And actually… the external effect is better than the internal one. Also now in Saint- Étienne [France] again… [as one who is coming from Graz] you are very well known and respected at these [international] meetings” (Stocker 2013).

In the next section I will discuss some of the structural problems and issues of Graz as a City of Design which have emerged as significant ones during the interviews.

6.4. Structural weaknesses I include a brief discussion of organisational problems of the City of Design process in Graz because a particular pattern has emerged in the course of the interviews which I consider as being relevant to the city’s further positioning as a creative city.

Each interviewed stakeholder illustrated some kind of structural weaknesses regarding the implementation of the City of Design in Graz. The main critique points to a lack of political commitment to the City of Design project and it stresses that the CIS is overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities which, according to most of the informants, should be undertaken by the local government. The three politicians I interviewed confirm this critique to a certain extent, particularly in pointing out that the allocation of competences is not well structured. The CIS “has certainly accomplished tasks which are clearly municipal duties” (Rüsch 2013). City councillor Rüsch further stresses that the City, namely the municipal policy, has been rather invisible in its City of Design activities and thus, assumed not much responsibility as the actual title-holder. Because of this issue, Rüsch states that one of his personal

- 96 - objectives is to push the local government to adopt clearer responsibilities in managing the ∗ City of Design project. Mario Weiss, managing partner of Trigon Consulting, likewise thinks that the responsibilities need to be redefined and that the local government should reconsider its current role:

There is the following problem: The City of Graz [the local government] has not really accepted the topic [being a City of Design] yet. And the CIS as organisation takes a substitution which is not its actual role. The CIS should rather be a contractor of the city for certain projects but the city itself ought to manage and steer the City of Design. This seems to be a bit of a difficulty. […] it is the question, who actually needs to live [represent] the City of Design? I think it is rather… the citizens… rather the municipal government, the head officials in their respective roles (Weiss 2013).

In my conversation with consultants and CIS-CEO Schrempf I have noticed a remarkable accordance concerning their discontent about the personal political and financial support for the City of Design. They used metaphors to exactly describe the same issue. Schrempf for instance, describes it ironically:

They [the local government] have a cool car [the City of Design] in the garage, but don’t drive it. Maybe, because nobody has a driver’s license or maybe, because they cannot afford the fuel […]. And now and then we […] drive five hundred meters and afterwards we drive back in the garage (Schrempf 2013).

This critique is particularly addressed to the narrow financial funds allocated to the City of Design. Between 2009 and 2012 the city of Graz spent about € 350,000 per year. This corresponds to the major part of the entire CIS-budget for the City of Design project. This sum also includes all expenses of the Designmonat which claims already a share of more than a third of the € 350,000. At the time of these interviews (March/April 2013), Schrempf also revealed that if the financial situation will not improve in the near future and, even more importantly, if the City of Design responsibilities of the local government and the CIS stay rather undefined, the CIS might reject to further manage the project City of Design. This

∗ Trigon Consulting offers consultancy to the CIS in general and also on City of Design branding.

- 97 - clearly shows that there are tensions concerning the overall organisation and tensions between politicians and non-political City of Design marketers.

The crucial point according to Eberhard Schrempf is that city officials need the “courage” not just to commit to the theoretical principles of the City of Design but to support it in reality as well. The City needs to take responsibility as title-holder because “as a small enterprise we [the CIS] cannot constantly do missionary work” (Schrempf 2013). Consultant Martin Krammer especially perceives the meetings of the City of Design Board partly as “terrible” since some of the participating politicians show a great lack of interest at these meetings (a total of three interviewees mentioned this aspect). “[Politicians underestimate] the potential that [the City of Design] has. Also simply because – and this is an open and honest opinion – because they do not understand what it is about” (Krammer 2013). In sum, four of five non- political respondents highlighted different aspects of a poor political commitment to the City of Design project.

This perceived gap between the viewpoints of politicians and non-political City of Design stakeholders is exceptional, especially as it has been the municipal government which initially decided to implement the City of Design theme in Graz. My further investigation why this issue occurred cannot entirely resolve this matter but I detected one specific obstacle which can be considered as a strong negative influence on the described issue. Namely, Lisa Rücker, city councillor of the Green Party, sees a large difficulty in the current political constellation which dates from the last communal election in November 2012:

[Before the communal election in 2012] there was a black-green coalition [ÖVP and Green Party] which was committed to the City of Design project. And thus, it has been a government project. And therefore the [political] opposition… all others… automatically disapproved it. Now there is a new constellation [a political working agreement between

ÖVP, SPÖ and FPÖ ∗, since January 2013] and two of the former contradictors are now shoulder to shoulder with the mayor [Siegfried Nagl, ÖVP] and exactly this problem becomes apparent now (Rücker 2013).

∗ ÖVP: Österreichische Volkspartei (Austrian People’s Party, a center-right party) SPÖ: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (Social Democratic Party of Austria, a center-left party) FPÖ: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (Freedom Party of Austria, a right-wing party)

- 98 - Rücker considers this as a bad situation for the City of Design brand because in her mind the three political parties “can’t discuss the [City of Design] theme together” (Rücker 2013). Gerhard Rüsch, representing the ÖVP in this respect, argues that the political involvement of his party up to now has been very good but he admits that the project City of Design depends on the support of all local political parties (Rüsch 2013).

6.5. Conclusion The findings of this chapter suggest that city marketers in Graz implement the UNESCO City of Design theme with regard to two major aspects. First, there is a focus on the city’s overall economic progress. More specifically, the development of the local creative economy and the city’s international positioning in order to attract people and investments are key objectives in positioning Graz as a City of Design. This corresponds to some fundamental characteristics in city branding which I discussed in subsection 2.4.4. Second, all informants expressed that the City of Design process is based on a long-term urban development intention which, apart from the economic well-being of Graz, particularly implies the city’s social, cultural and environmental spheres.

The interviewees consistently claim that the City of Design branding aims to foster the consideration of “design” as a conceptual basis for a broad range of activities. Whether design is discussed in a rather “classic” way, namely “design” as a means of creating appealing and practical products. Or – and this is the fundamental idea of branding Graz as a City of Design in the long-run – design can be considered as being relevant to any tangible or intangible process that affects Graz’s progress. Regardless if design is used to plan the urban fabric or to efficiently “design” public participation processes, or if city officials and other local stakeholders adjust their decision-making to the principles of “design-thinking”.

In that sense, I argue that the creative city approach implemented in Graz shows some principal assumptions of Landry’s (2000) “Creative City”. In chapter 3 I illustrated that a creative city according to Charles Landry does not exclusively focus on economic growth through the attraction of a specific target group such as the creative class. It takes a wider approach and discusses creativity in terms of how local governments deal with urban challenges. Arguably, some informants in Graz expressed that the City of Design theme should particularly foster the local economy. The findings nonetheless show that the theme is actually built on a more comprehensive basis, including social and cultural policies.

- 99 - Compared to Richard Florida’s (2002; 2012) assumptions on the “Creative Class”, the City of Design approach in Graz shows some similarities as well. Namely, that creative individuals and creative industries are a central audience and that Graz aims to become a creative “hot spot” by attracting skilled people in this respect. However, Graz as a City of Design does not put a comparable exclusive focus on the task of attracting the “creative class” as Richard Florida does. Place marketers in Graz adopt the image of a creative city on a broader basis.

Through my findings I describe the brand identity of “Graz UNESCO City of Design” as a liveable city and attractive business environment, based on diverse high-quality attributes and on innovation-oriented governance. Thereby the question emerges how the actual branding process of Graz as a City of Design is approached, or in other words, how the brand identity is communicated. In this respect, one can detect marketing campaigns in order to promote Graz as a City of Design which had been carried out mainly during the application period and right after Graz actually acquired the City of Design designation in 2011. However, “classic” promotional activities are not the primary approach to creating the brand. The findings suggest that city marketers aim to create the brand largely through practical projects and events which make design-processes more transparent and comprehensive and therefore make the potential benefits of design visible to the public. I consider this approach as an “indirect” branding process because the brand “Graz UNESCO City of Design” might develop alongside to the general image enhancement of the topic of “design”.

However, I want to stress that we do not speak of an already fully implemented place brand as the city of Graz has been holding the City of Design designation only for about two and a half years. The actual branding process is therefore in an early but developing stage. This becomes evident through the fact that Graz has not yet experienced a broad recognition as a City of Design in the general public but among other economic sectors which are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of design-related services by the creative economy. The impression that citizens in Graz know very little about the branded theme has been mentioned by most of the interviewed City of Design informants and equally by most of the interviewed ∗ creative workers. This might also have to do with the fact that it is not one specific brand identity that is communicated to the public but a variety of City of Design aspects, pointing to the multifaceted character of the process. This makes the communication of the process also rather complex and difficult to consistently manage it publicly.

∗ cf. chapter 7

- 100 - It has also become partly apparent that half of the individual conversations did not offer a notable branding discourse. This means that the informants did not explicitly use terms such as “brand” or “branding” to express their viewpoints on the City of Design positioning. Even though I intentionally included “brand” and “branding” in some of the interview questions, the informants tended to describe it in different ways (for instance “image creation” or “positioning”). Nobody rejected my use of these terms though. Yet, most importantly, the Creative Industries Styria as central institution that currently manages the City of Design project as well as the interviewed consultants used to speak of “branding” on their own accord.

A particular challenge in the City of Design implementation in Graz is that the theoretical commitment of Graz as a City of Design and the way how this commitment is “lived” in reality is not consistent. A lack of communication between the governing political parties is considered to be an obstructive basis to put the theoretical principles of the City of Design into practice. Thus, it is crucial how this issue is developing in near future because the CIS as an organisation with limited resources will not be able to bear the responsibility of managing the City of Design project alone. This has even been confirmed by its CEO Eberhard Schrempf.

In sum, this chapter has shown that the way how local stakeholders encounter the City of Design vision is rather consistent. Thus, I argue that Graz as a City of Design has a good basis for gradually developing and nurturing the designation towards a distinct place brand. What the branding process to shape Graz as a City of Design first and foremost needs is time to develop as it is a project with a long-term horizon. Certainly, it is equally important that the allocation of competences between local government and CIS, which currently does not appear to be well structured, becomes clarified.

The following chapter provides additional information on the branding of Graz as a City of Design. It shows how creative workers in Graz encounter the process. Thus, the chapter offers insights to the actual brand image. I will discuss if this image matches with the communicated place identity promoted by city marketers and if the process is therefore endorsed and supported by the local creative scene or not.

- 101 - 7. Brand Image: Graz as a UNESCO City of Design

7.1. Introduction In this chapter I offer an analysis of my third research question: How do creative people perceive Graz as a City of Design? Therefore, I discuss recurring viewpoints of the interviews with local creative workers on the City of Design process. Additionally, I provide individual pieces of discourse in order to show particularly significant statements made by these actors. The analysis I present in this chapter is therefore aimed to show to what extent the brand image of Graz as a City of Design – based on the viewpoints of representatives of Graz’s ∗ creative class – matches with the communicated brand identity by Graz’s place marketers (cf. Hankinson 2001; Atkinson et al. 2002; Rainisto 2003; Ashworth and Kavaratzis 2010; Aitken and Campelo 2011).

This chapter is structured into six thematic sections. Section 7.2. shows whether the informants think that Graz deserves to be a City of Design or not. In section 7.3. I consider perceived potentials in the sense of opportunities and benefits which the respondents link with the City of Design. Section 7.4. illustrates that the City of Design positioning through Graz’s place marketers causes distinct perceptions amongst local and international audiences. In section 7.5. I offer a discussion on weaknesses and structural problems which the creative class members highlighted as potential obstacles for the development of Graz as a City of Design. Section 7.6. provides an account to what informants consider as the most significant impacts of the City of Design branding on Graz’s creative industries. Section 7.7. is dedicated to discussing concluding remarks of how representatives of the creative class encounter the branding of Graz as a UNESCO City of Design.

7.2. Graz as a City of Design… qualified or not? The City of Design – whether it is declared as title, label, brand, project or process – is predominantly seen as a quality label and as a positive feature for the city of Graz. By the term “quality label” I point to the informants’ remarks that a UNESCO designation generally offers a high prestige connected with specific qualities. In the case of a City of Design such qualities can be for instance an innovative character of the city, a dynamic urban fabric or good educational facilities. Remarkable is that none of the interviewees opposes the fact that Graz brands itself as a City of Design.

∗ cf. 6.2.2.

- 102 - In sum, the interviews showed that five of nine informants tend to perceive the City of Design process in Graz rather positively, three informants have a rather neutral attitude and for just one informant the City of Design has no particular value. Yet, even for those respondents with a neutral or rather reserved attitude, the City of Design does not represent an undesirable development.

7.2.1. Yes, Graz as City of Design is a convincing development! Those who consider Graz as qualified for being City of Design especially highlight the existing infrastructures and the creative potentials which the city possesses. Johanna Prechtl, independent graphic designer, is convinced that Graz deserves to be a City of Design and to be a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network:

A direct comparison with metropolises like Buenos Aires or Berlin is out of proportion and not advisable. In my opinion, a City of Design is characterised by its creative potential compared to the size of the community. Creative potential in terms of education and further training, job opportunities, multicultural projects and events, possibilities to realise own ideas etc. Graz with its ”manageable size” absolutely offers that. […] It is a great honour for the city, awarded by a competent jury (Prechtl 2013).

Similar to Prechtl’s statement above the majority of interviewees agree on good existing infrastructures such as educational facilities or ongoing cultural events. Many respondents especially claim that training and education are central to a creative city and mention two local universities which make Graz a city that deserves to be a City of Design. Most significantly, the FH Joanneum (University of Applied Sciences) offers several degree ∗ programmes with different orientations on design. Three respondents further highlight the Graz University of Technology as essential infrastructure.

Even more important is that according to the respondents, the city further holds plenty of unused economic and socio-cultural development potentials. For this reason, especially the future prospects have been noticed as the most essential justification for Graz’s positioning as a City of Design. With regard to the further evolution of the city, architect Ernst Giselbrecht

∗ Two respondents specifically appreciate the degree course of industrial design. Yet, the FH has also been criticised – cf. 7.2.2.

- 103 - ∗ stresses two qualities of Graz in particular: due to the presence of many university students it is a comparably young city and entails a vivid exchange between research institutions and the urban social fabric. Secondly, various cultural influences merge into Graz’s urban fabric and induce development processes which keep the city in a constant evolution.

Mike Fuisz, managing director of a branding agency, stresses that Graz offers both a powerful basis to be a creative city and plenty of potential for further development:

Well… we have, let’s say… the basis for the City of Design. Our history, our… urban fabric, our architectural scene […], Cultural Capital […], due to Steirischer Herbst [festival for contemporary art] etc. […] we are open for more than we might think… as a city. […] and Graz certainly has a greater basic potential than many other cities. And Graz also went through the application procedure [of the UNESCO], had to fulfil certain things… hence, the basis is there. […] people do not speak of a “pensionopolis” anymore… cool enterprises and good companies emerge. Regardless, if it is En Garde or the Lendplatz-area, etc… creative companies which create incredibly awesome things by being proactive (Fuisz 2013).

By considering the creative economy as a central building block of Graz’s image as a City of Design, some informants highlighted that local creative industries have developed very dynamically in the recent decade and have positive future prospects. The relatively high ∗∗ concentration of creative businesses in Graz and their multifaceted character , the increasing ∗∗∗ demand for creative services and the beneficial networking of the CIS are conclusive arguments which support the expressed positive prospects of creative businesses.

Interestingly, the year 2003, when Graz was the European Capital of Culture, is considered as a kind of turning point by half of the informants because “ what started with the Cultural Capital […] finally continues with the City of Design” , as Peter Sablatnig (2013), sales manager of “Bene Office Furniture”, argues. Keeping that in mind, the research participants consider a consistent long-term development of Graz’s image as a cultural and creative city as particularly desirable.

∗ In total, Graz has about 45,000 students and 270,000 inhabitants. ∗∗ cf. 4.6. ∗∗∗ cf. 4.4.4.; the importance of the Creative Industries Styria has been outlined by half of the respondents.

- 104 - 7.2.2. Graz as a City of Design does not remain unchallenged All the respondents noted that City of Design is not only about supporting and promoting the creative economy but rather a comprehensive concept for urban development. In this regard, all informants offer some kind of criticism, mostly directed towards municipal policy and urban planning. Daniel Bauer, an architect and owner of a motion design company, thinks that the general local discourse on design took a good development in recent years but he does not perceive it as such an outstanding feature of Graz which would necessarily entail the positioning as a prestigious UNESCO City of Design. The main point of his critique concerns the still prevailing lack of design-thinking in the mindsets of authorities in charge which makes Graz literally a “City of No Design”:

We have the Old Town in the centre […] and [the districts] all around grow exuberantly without any plan with one eyesore after another. There is absolutely no architectural quality anymore… chaotic conditions in urban planning prevail. No consideration how living spaces can be defined or living spaces can be valorised and all those would be design-tasks, all ESSENTIAL design tasks […]! Architects give up all hope because they say it’s like tilting at windmills, politics states that we [they] DID our [their] spatial planning and the rest is in the concern of investors… and with that it looks as it looks: streets congested with cars, particulate matter etc… a situation without any vision […] rather City of No Design… City of Let It Go (Bauer 2013).

According to Peter Sablatnig, “a master plan towards where we want to develop” (Sablatnig 2013) is missing. The political commitment to the City of Design and the politicians’ lack of ∗ visionary thinking have been criticised by six interviewees. Interestingly, in contrast to the highly positive opinion on the FH Joanneum which I described in subsection 7.2.1., two research participants questioned this educational facility. Their critique refers to a rather limited value of this facility due to a lack of clear educational visions for the degree programs. One respondent who currently has a guest lectureship at the FH perceives the classes as rather “uninspired” because they are stiffly organised and are most inflexible to approach tasks and projects unorthodoxly or by thinking outside the box.

∗ cf. 7.5.

- 105 - Despite the offered critique, Graz’s positioning as a City of Design is not rejected by anyone. Yet, about half of the interviewees at least questioned the real necessity of it. Such a title seems to be rather important for politicians “who always think in a way of brand awareness” (Bauer 2013). Stefan Unger, an autodidact graphic designer and editor of a creative magazine, says: “Well… City of Design… nice that we are that… but in reality, just a title… I don’t need a title to be something” (Unger 2013). Mario Rampitsch, founder of the interdisciplinary design company En Garde argues: “Titles are – in my opinion – generally challengeable… in the sense of illusion and reality, or: something seems to be…” (Rampitsch 2013)

Furthermore, all nine respondents agree that the City of Design awarding should be seen as opportunity to actively initiate sustainable urban development projects. If Graz would be non- active and just hide behind the “smoke screen City of Design”, any progress would fail.

7.3. Exposing perceived potentials of the City of Design This section offers the informants’ most frequently expressed viewpoints regarding the kind of development the City of Design can induce and the kind of benefits which may result from that.

7.3.1. Enhanced awareness of the importance of creative industries and design Communicating the idea that design-processes are important and beneficial for the overall urban economy is a central task of the City of Design branding of Graz. The interviewees agree on the viewpoint that design is a central aspect of economic success. Daniel Bauer, for example, holds this opinion. However, he stresses that Graz would also be a city of dynamic development in the design-sector even if it did not hold the title of “City of Design”:

[…] this is the essence for us, namely that they [the Creative Industries Styria] try to communicate that economy and industry may benefit from design services. […] everything is prettier, more presentable and the external image is better. […] and [the CIS] could do that without the City of Design as well (Bauer 2013).

Heimo Lercher, CEO of an advertising agency and also a main initiator of the City of Design process in Graz, notes that many actors of the local economy have changed their view on design over the recent years:

- 106 - The most important and in my opinion also most sustainable effect [of the City of Design] is that the topic of creativity as economic factor got into the minds of people who previously refused to believe that creative people are decent and serious entrepreneurs. […] and I think that the City of Design theme and the CIS contributed greatly to improving the climate for creative workers […] creativity gained sex appeal through the whole project (Lercher 2013).

As a sales manager of Bene , one of the biggest office furniture manufacturers in Austria, Peter Sablatnig explains that his company has frequently cooperated with the CIS on the organisation of several events in order to embed the topics of design and architecture within the city’s economy – guest lectures of, for instance, internationally recognised designers. Once, Bene -designers opened their creative laboratory to external creative workers in order to encourage exchange and foster innovative ideas amongst the designer-scene.

Most respondents confirm occasional contacts with the CIS, among that also project ∗ cooperation such as described above. The annual Designmonat (held since 2009) for instance is frequently mentioned as a CIS- and City of Design-flagship project where design-processes and the work of the creative economy are tangibly and understandably illustrated for a wider public. In addition to the Designmonat, a considerable number of projects, lectures and other ∗∗ events with manifold design-relations aim to foster a constant design-discourse in the public which, according to most interviewed workers of Graz’s creative economy, contribute to shape Graz as a city which has a “natural design-affinity” and a city which is dedicated to being a City of Design.

However, it must be highlighted that the City of Design efforts have not yet succeeded in convincing the general public, namely the greater part of Graz’s citizens. Eight interviewees offered their impression that “normal” citizens (in the sense of people who bear no relationship to creative industries or to a general discourse on design) do not particularly feel attracted by the label and maybe even feel overwhelmed. Mario Rampitsch states:

To be honest […] if I were a “normal“ worker who comes from a completely different sector, […] then I would think, what is this fuss about? Well, I think the notion of design in our

∗ cf. 6.3.2. ∗∗ cf. 6.3.2.

- 107 - community of values is just… it just doesn’t have such a high relevance like it probably has to the general economy. […] as entrepreneur you rather deal with that because you know that this is the means to improve my product or […] project, my enterprise […]. But as a citizen I would rather perceive it as confusing (Rampitsch 2013).

Iris Kastner, owner of a shop for sustainable design in Graz’s trendy district of Lend, endorses that City of Design brings along a great discourse about design on the one hand, which is also of particular importance for her own business. Yet, on the other hand, she likewise mentions that City of Design is a complex issue which is difficult to communicate:

[In Graz, City of Design and the general discourse on the creative economy offer] a great amount of activities which confuse people to a certain extent […]. […] those people who are not part of the [creative] scene can’t do anything with that, I still have this impression. […] I also don’t have a solution […] A good strategy is certainly just to continue… continue, continue, continue and I don’t know… to increasingly sensitise people for it through conversations. But it attracted my attention that the crowd knows very little about this topic (Kastner 2013).

Even though it has not been a particular focus of my research, the impression that Graz’s citizens are not notably concerned with the City of Design process became apparent in almost all interviews, regardless if it was expressed by a member of the local creative class or by a ∗ City of Design image producer. In addition to my interviews, I point to Karl Stocker’s publication The Power of Design – A Journey through the 11 UNESCO Cities of Design because the idea that local people do not perceive their city as a City of Design is an issue in the majority of UNESCO Cities of Design (Stocker 2013).

7.3.2. City of Design is not just about beautifying objects or the creative economy In total, six interviewees mentioned that the City of Design process and the fostering of a public discourse about design are important for the overall evolution of the urban fabric. Explanations included aspects of economic, social, cultural and even environmental ∗∗ development in connection with urban planning and city policies. Many respondents think

∗ cf. 1.1. and 6.1. ∗∗ This also became apparent in Daniel Bauer’s statement on urban planning in subsection 7.2.2.

- 108 - that the idea of a sustainable urban development is the fundamental basis of the City of Design and that the theme is therefore relevant to all citizens.

All informants without exception therefore agree that it is crucial to consider Graz as a City of Design as a future-oriented process and not so much as title for an already achieved development. “Process-thinking” is a term that has been frequently mentioned in this respect. Five respondents used to speak of a temporal perspective of a decade or even more until some of the current efforts might be really visible in the public and a greater matter of course for design is present. Peter Sablatnig thinks:

[City of Design] is not a matter of who has the […] best designed architecture in the city, but rather of what the sustainable topic is. How can we embed [design-thinking] on a long-term basis? How can we focus our thoughts […] on that? (Sablatnig 2013)

Mike Fuisz stresses that Graz’s “quality of life” must be the ultimate objective of the City of Design process. He argues that any strategy as well as any concrete activity that is adopted within the City of Design framework and in the framework of the CIS in general should be organised in coordination with urban development policies:

[City of Design] is a matter of urban development […] it is not about one concrete issue or just about the creative economy. That would be a completely one-dimensional approach to the topic. […] with means of design-thinking to deal with the big… issues which are coming down the road: mobility, ecology, economy and… I would say humus for creative enterprises. I’m not just speaking of the creative economy. Creativity or let’s say… a spirit of innovation… counts for each enterprise. […] and when urban development [is understood] in the sense of… okay, how can problems be solved with contemporary solutions?... where designers, engineers, architects, politicians etc. implement NEW thinking and NEW ways, then we will be a real City of Design at some point. […] I expect that […] a liveable city remains, namely, with the perspective of being an attractive location in ten to twenty years (Fuisz 2013).

The interviews also revealed that proactive urban development policies which aim to secure and enhance Graz’s high quality of life and occupational opportunities are amongst the key

- 109 - factors to bind skilled workers to Graz and to further attract talents, regardless whether they belong to the creative economy or not. The most frequent features that the interviewees mentioned as Graz’s pull factors are the very good further development potentials and that Graz is a medium-sized city, equipped with a good mix of cultural amenities, high safety standards, nature in close proximity and a structure of small distances, which make it a pedestrian- and bike-friendly city.

7.3.3. City of Design as a stimulus to change systems fundamentally? Even though it has been a rather marginal note during the interviews it became apparent that some informants regard Graz’s bureaucracy and generally rigid administrative system as obstacles for its image as an attractive business location. With regard to that, four respondents consider the City of Design process also as a chance to change strict “traditional” systems, such as public administration, in order to facilitate flexible approaches in any respect.

In four cases, bureaucracy, both in Graz and Styria, became apparent as a partly irritating matter. I provide one example: Daniel Bauer did not really criticise the general financial support for creative enterprises but perceives the application for film funding as “hell, […] unbelievable bureaucracy… that doesn’t correspond to our work if we want to start a project, set up something really quick […]” (Bauer 2013). As a consequence, Bauer entirely quit applying – a remarkable step because film funding can be quite relevant to motion designers.

However, Mario Rampitsch – who in general has a rather neutral position regarding the City of Design branding – considers the City of Design as a possible chance to solve problems and to organise societal systems in a more innovative way. He offers a practical example:

[…] maybe a potential like City of Design… opens systemic possibilities, or rather maybe opens rigid systems like social insurances, rigid accounting […]. This is also what I mean how I understand a creative economy – to question and to solve systems in a more creative way. […]There is an exciting system […] originating from Belgium […] and in Sweden […] and France […] it is already implemented as well. In Belgium, already 40,000 people work with “SMart" (Rampitsch 2013).

SMart is a Belgian non-profit organisation which provides financial support, guidance and assistance in the career development of cultural and creative workers (SMartEu 2012a). It

- 110 - allows people to work “on their projects without being overwhelmed by administrative burdens and the worry of unpredictable cash-flow” (SMartEu 2012b). Rampitsch explains that through such an organisation people can benefit from a simple and quick funding procedure which is based on their own deposits. He continues that the implementation of a system similar to SMart

[…] is not possible [in Austria] for legal reasons. [However,] to build such an infrastructure would have a GREAT potential because people would be able to start things unbureaucratically and fast […] a lot of development potential in our society is based on that! (Rampitsch 2013)

Except for Mario Rampitsch’s statements above, the hope for a more flexible administrative organisation has not been explicitly connected to the City of Design. Nevertheless it shows that discourses on design and creativity can be stimuli for starting further discourses, such as considering issues not just on the surface but regarding their fundamental features.

In the following section I provide an account of how the research participants think that the City of Design is encountered by domestic and international audiences.

7.4. Aspects of internal and external perceptions A variety of considerations by the interviewees show that City of Design has both, an affect on how the city is perceived locally as well as outside of Graz.

7.4.1. City of Design gives Graz as a whole a greater self-assurance in being an authentic creative location Four respondents think that the City of Design positioning has the potential to strongly contribute to Graz’s appearance of an enhanced “natural” self-conception. “Self-conception” in the sense that public stakeholders and citizens encounter “their” city as a dynamic and powerful creative city. Two informants consider again the year 2003 as most remarkable initial point in the transformation of Graz’s image. Peter Sablatnig explains:

City of Design is one of many activities that try to instil more self-confidence to Graz, which in my opinion has also been successful. […] Cultural Capital has been a cornerstone and I

- 111 - think City of Design, which is not that settled in peoples’ minds yet, [might contribute] maybe even more [to get a greater self-awareness to (Sablatnig 2013).

Ernst Giselbrecht describes the City of Design initiative partly as a marketing tool to convince citizens that urban stakeholders, especially policy-makers, increasingly aim to adjust their decision-making-processes to the principles of design-thinking. In this sense, the City of Design image might contribute to positioning Graz as a city which is committed to quality:

[…] but I consider [the City of Design] also as a marketing tool that is inward-oriented, that establishes consciousness among people who are already here [in the city]… and those who settle down here… that there is a quality label which is consistently applied to all decisions in an artistic respect (Giselbrecht 2013).

Mike Fuisz, considers himself, his branding agency and his creative fellows in Graz as a vital part of the City of Design: “We ourselves as one of the biggest agencies [moodley brand identity]… contribute that Graz is a reliable City of Design” (Fuisz 2013). For this reason, the participation of the creative economy in positioning Graz as a City of Design – for ∗ example in the form of think tank meetings in 2008 – is perceived as a key to equip the brand with a strong and understandable image.

7.4.2. City of Design raises the external attention for the location of Graz By drawing on their personal and commercial external relations, eight of the interviewed creative workers offered aspects of how the city’s image as a City of Design is perceived outside of Graz. Six informants think that the City of Design has already increased the awareness of Graz being a location for high-quality products and services and that the City of Design designation “ can be an advantage in the competition between cities” (Sablatnig 2013). Yet, this perception is mainly related to experts or other entrepreneurs and not so much to the civil society. Peter Sablatnig, for example, explains that he frequently hosts international business guests who notice Graz’s design-orientation very positively:

∗ The think tank meetings of 2008 are discussed in more detail in subsection 6.3.2.

- 112 - […] even though people don’t really know that Graz is a City of Design […] I have a lot of guests, also international guests, coming to Graz and […] actually each one is deeply impressed by what happened in architecture, in design or other… (Sablatnig 2013)

Two informants refer to Vienna and how the creative scene of Vienna seems to perceive Graz as a creative business location. The respondents show a remarkable disagreement: Mike Fuisz considers it quite optimistically:

I frequently hear in Vienna […] that this [the development since 2003] commands respect from the people. The reputation […] that interesting people willingly move to Graz to work – we definitely notice that! (Fuisz 2013)

Mike Fuisz adds that this is not particularly connected to the City of Design since this branding is still at an early stage of implementation. Yet, City of Design holds the potential to further position Graz as a place where people want to go. Stefan Unger in turn, has the impression that: “Vienna is just laughing at us! Vienna is a cosmopolitan city and we are just backcountry” (Unger 2013). He claims that there is a “wannabe-attitude” amongst Graz’s citizens, which is rather obstructive for a good external perception.

Another facet of Graz’s external perception as a City of Design is noticed by three interviewees who spoke about applications for employment. Creative workers from other Austrian provinces, but particularly from abroad, frequently apply with a remark to Graz as a City of Design:

[…] applications frequently arrive in conjunction with the City of Design. That means City of Design is apparently well known amongst the designer scene and thereby they look, which kind of agencies exist in Graz (Rampitsch 2013).

During one of my interviews I got to know Almudena Nagu, a motion design trainee, coming from Alicante, Spain (living and working in Barcelona), and doing an internship with Daniel Bauer’s company Shot Shot Shot in Graz. She did not particularly apply because she knew of the City of Design but her general “impression was really good. […] when I heard about the City of Design I started to check what kind of design I can find in Graz” (Nagu 2013). She

- 113 - also stresses that she had the choice between different cities (such as Dublin, Ireland) but decided to come to Graz due to the diverse range of creative services one can find there.

The next section is dedicated to considering some of the offered critique on the implementation of the City of Design process in Graz in more detail.

7.5. Considering structural obstacles for the City of Design This section illustrates some weaknesses which Graz, according to the majority of informants, seems to possess in terms of the City of Design positioning. It also considers obstacles which the city may encounter in the further development of the brand.

7.5.1. The political commitment to the City of Design has been poor so far and citizens partly showed rejecting attitudes As mentioned in section 7.2., six of nine interviewees slightly criticise how urban policy deals with the City of Design. The main argument is that a visionary thinking is not really recognisable (i.e. a long-term urban development vision). Although the city’s political strategy in theory commits to “design-thinking” , three respondents claim that there is a “gap” between theory and reality: “[…] I know from politicians that they simply think short-sighted, not comprehensive, and also they do not have any comprehensive understanding of design” (Bauer 2013). Interestingly, this perceived gap is consistent with the statements of some of the ∗ non-political City of Design image producers.

It also became apparent that when informants of the creative class speak about City of Design activities and events, they predominantly link it to the CIS. This shows that the respondents encounter the City of Design primarily as an output of the CIS but not so much the municipal government. This is substantiated by two aspects I briefly discussed in section 6.4.: first, the city of Graz, represented by the city government, has not yet assumed sufficient responsibility as the actual City of Design title-holder; second, according to some City of Design marketers, the CIS had to take much of this responsibility, which is not its original task. For this reason the creative class mostly appreciates the work done by the CIS while it tends to criticise the city government.

∗ cf. 6.4.

- 114 - Let me further illustrate the critique with two examples: Two respondents mentioned the case of Beta Young Creative Lab in Graz’s district of Liebenau as an example of the failure of the municipal City of Design-policy. The Beta Lab , financed by the Province of Styria and the City of Graz, was intended to be a centre for creative talents with the purpose of further education and connection to the labour market. It has eventually been unsuccessful due to insufficient cooperation with the local creative industries and due to financial problems (Der Standard – March 14 th , 2012). The highlighted critique mainly addresses to the construction of the “ awfully expensive ” Beta Lab instead of using the money in order to rent “ cheaper premises in the district of Jakomini, where [creative] talents could have developed without time pressure ” (Bauer 2013).

Three other interviewees particularly criticised the way of how local politicians have dealt with the project Design von GRA-Z. In 2011, Johanna Prechtl designed street furniture in the form of large green letters for public space, building the phrase “Graz ist ein Hot Spot” (Graz is a hot spot; see figure 7.1.). However, some people moved the letters in an act of vandalism and as a consequence, public officials immediately decided to completely remove the letters from the public space. Johanna Prechtl and two other creative workers explained that the city’s reaction has been short-sighted: “If the city hadn’t reacted so overhasty to that mischief they would have saved themselves and all persons involved a lot of critique and some Euros” (Prechtl 2013). Eventually the letters had been repositioned a year later and are still used ∗ today.

Further critique offered by three respondents, points to the public attitude towards creative and innovative projects, which partly seems to be obstructive for project realisations. To continue with the example Design von GRA-Z, the designer who invented this project complains about “the rejecting, destructive attitude of many Graz citizens towards the City of Design” (Prechtl 2013). This statement is not simply the response of an affected person because there is a similar critique on the same topic, raised by graphic designer Stefan Unger, who has not been involved in the project. Unger points to the “narrow-mindedness” of Graz citizens: “Nice […] being a City of Design […] but if it already fails with the [Design von GRA-Z] letters […] then it is just ridiculous” (Unger 2013). For this reason it can be argued that there is not just a need to raise the public awareness for the potential benefits the City of Design may have for the local population, but also to “sensitise citizens” (Kastner 2013) for

∗ located for example next to the main bridge in Graz’s inner city

- 115 - the fact that creative projects can actively contribute to equipping Graz with an innovative character which may foster the city’s attractiveness as a business location and a place to live.

Fig. 7.1.: Design von GRA-Z: street furniture for public space Source: Jo-Anna 2013

7.5.2. Annually changing City of Design themes might be advisable Two respondents claim that apart from the Designmonat, there is a lack of long-lasting City of Design projects and as a result, the Designmonat is considered to have little serious support. In the opinion of the two informants, the presently large number of small CIS-initiatives and ∗ events rather causes some irritation and makes the City of Design theme very difficult to understand for local people. Peter Sablatnig suggests that the large number of CIS-projects could be integrated into promoted guiding themes that run throughout the year and change annually:

Designmonat is a good start, also the [Creative Industries] Convention at the start of the year is very good. The rest [of the CIS programme] is partly not perceptible to me because there is an excessive density and abundance of small-scale events. […] this is almost

∗ Some of them are designated as City of Design activities, yet most of them refer to the CIS in general.

- 116 - inflationary. […] essential would be… projects which run through the course of a year […] (Sablatnig 2013).

Architect Ernst Giselbrecht would endorse annual themes as well and argues that projects could be made more tangible and easier understandable by connecting them to neighbourhoods, to make benefits from design directly visible in the cityscape:

[…] I would appreciate […] annual topics […] where several branches would work on […] partly with competitions, partly with direct orders […]. […] and it would be interesting for the urban fabric […] to deal with parts of it… to set visible examples in areas where design isn’t a constant subject. [In doing so it] is possible to bring [the City of Design] by simple means into the consciousness of people (Giselbrecht 2013).

A further critique concerns the fact that, according to three respondents, the CIS puts an excessive focus on industrial design, and more specifically, product design. Themes of the annual Creative Industries Convention, of lectures and of other events are perceived to have this one-sided focus. The informants would appreciate topics that better reflect the local diversity of creative industries. Stefan Unger expressed irritation:

[…] if you look, the CIS… at each Convention it’s always just furniture, just industrial design. It’s ALWAYS just industrial design and no one is interested anymore. Cool furnishing is great but… […] And all of the graphic designers just think: fuck, why do they again speak about furniture? (Unger 2013)

Two research participants try to explain this focus from an economic perspective: the sector of industrial design is probably the creative sector with the highest reputation locally and the sector that is fostered by public officials because it offers the highest tax revenues. However, six of nine interviewees did not mention the issue of a one-sided thematic focus at all.

In the following section I discuss the most significant potential impacts which the creative class experiences through the positioning of Graz as a City of Design.

- 117 - 7.6. Perceived impacts for representatives of the local creative economy The interviews with the creative class in Graz also considered potential benefits of the City of Design process which the creative industries in Graz might experience. The benefits which are perceived as the most important ones are a consequence of change perceptions, as I will explain in the following subsection.

7.6.1. City of Design does not influence so much the everyday work of creative industries – nevertheless it provides benefits to them It must be recalled that City of Design is intended to be much more than a tool for immediate economic success. According to the interviewees, “[…] the expectation […] that […] suddenly 100,000 tourists flock into the city because we are a City of Design, that is absolute nonsense. Because again: it’s an urban development topic […]” (Fuisz 2013). What City of Design from the perspective of the creative class rather induces is that creative industries and their work are becoming increasingly respected by other entrepreneurs and amongst the public. Heimo Lercher, CEO of the advertising agency I-Punkt explains:

[…] immediate entrepreneurial success […] like: since we are City of Design our turnovers have increased by a third! …that will never happen because each entrepreneur has to acquire and deal with orders on his own. You just can improve the climate and I think the City of Design and CIS contributed very much to enhancing the climate for creative workers […] (Lercher 2013).

In other words, City of Design and CIS do not primarily provide benefits in form of direct orders to creative businesses but their activities and events help to enhance the awareness for the high value of services and products of the creative economy. As a consequence thereof, creative industries experience a wider demand for their work. The most frequently mentioned initiatives which are considered to have the strongest effect on influencing the public awareness are first, the Designmonat and second, Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft (Adventure World Economy, a project where working processes of varied Styrian companies become transparent and tangible; CIS 2009g). Figures 7.2., 7.3. and 7.4. provide some illustrative examples of these initiatives in form of creative outputs in the framework of the City of Design.

- 118 -

Fig. 7.2.: Some outputs of Designmonat 2013 Nagoya Design Jikatabi Footwear by marimomen; Sources: Der Standard 2013; Flickr 2013 Hartz-IV Wohnung (Hartz-IV apartment) by Van Bo Le-Mentzel; Source: Der Standard 2013 Bugaboo Winterkinderwagen (winter buggy) by Daria Biryukova; Source: Biorama 2013

Fig. 7.3.: SunnyBAG – official present of the UNESCO City of Design Graz A hand-made shoulder bag with integrated waterproof solar panels which make it a charging station for electronic devices; Sources: CIS 2013f; Österreichischer Rundfunk 2013

- 119 -

Fig. 7.4.: Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft (Adventure World Economy) – making the economic performance of Styrian companies transparent and understandable AT&S (development of electronic components); Source: CIS 2013g art+event Dekorationswerkstatt (scenery workshop, photos 2+3); Source: Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft 2013a Gaulhofer (production of windows and doors); Source: Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft 2013b

Four interviewees consider the City of Design as a prestige label and explain that it is particularly positive to have their business located in Graz – in a City of Design. Thus, they perceive it as a location factor:

[…] for us, also as a company that produces design-oriented products, it is actually indispensable [to be situated in a City of Design]. […] Thereby you are also perceived differently as entrepreneur (Sablatnig 2013).

Iris Kastner, owner of the design-shop kwirl , thinks that being in Graz, being in a City of Design, is favourable to her business because design is considered as a dynamic sector: “It’s positive on the one hand because […] I am inside the City of Design momentum, inside the [design] wave. The disadvantage is that one looses his unique selling proposition ” (Kastner

- 120 - 2013). With the latter argument Kastner points to the risk of getting lost in the shuffle because she notices an increased competition for her business, especially since city marketers have begun to strategically shape Graz as a creative city.

Some of the interviewees also have or had City of Design-specific cooperation projects with the CIS. To name some examples, Johanna Prechtl (2013) realised the project Design von GRA-Z; Bene Office Furniture and the CIS cooperated on City of Design-specific lectures (Sablatnig 2013); Iris Kastner as the owner of the design-shop kwirl made contributions to Graz’s official application brochure for becoming a City of Design (Kastner 2013); the branding agency moodley brand identity accompanied the whole application process (Fuisz 2013); the design company En Garde is going to reshape the offices of a municipal department (Rampitsch 2013); and Ernst Giselbrecht (2013) mentioned, that his architectural office worked on a concept for designing a building at the last FIS Skiing World Championships in Schladming, Styria, which would have been sponsored by the City of Design – however, the project has not been realised.

Further examples of how creative industries may benefit from CIS-activities are the frequently organised lectures and workshops on different topics of the creative economy, where international designers exchange knowledge with the creative workers of Graz. The ∗ annually organised CIS network-journeys for creative workers are another notable facet. Although not particularly labelled as “City of Design-initiative”, these journeys are positively mentioned by three interviewees and are perceived as “[…] a wonderful possibility to get to know other creative workers from Graz, establish a [personal] network and broaden one’s horizon” (Prechtl 2013).

Overall, the creative workers I interviewed seem to be well-aware that the endeavours of the City of Design are an important facet of the CIS-strategy to develop Graz as a well-recognised creative “hot spot”. Yet, it is not particularly relevant to the research participants of the creative class whether a project or event is labelled as “City of Design” activity or not. Rather important is that the CIS continues their work to enhance the “creative atmosphere” in the city and that CIS and the City of Graz even expand efforts in this respect.

∗ cf. 6.3.2.

- 121 - 7.7. Conclusion The majority of creative people I interviewed perceive Graz as a City of Design rather positively and with a spirit of optimism but not enthusiasm. As a consequence, the City of Design development in Graz is not opposed by any of the respondents, yet half of the informants at least questioned if Graz actually needs this specific title, namely in the sense that the current efforts and activities in order to embed “design-principles” in the urban political, social and economic urban fabric would also take place if Graz would not be designated as a City of Design.

However, the predominant perception tends to be positive due to three main viewpoints: first, the City of Design with its projects and events contributes to making design-processes publicly understandable. As a result, awareness for the work of creative industries and the benefits of design is fostered – so far especially for the general economy but not so much amongst the general public; second, the City of Design is considered to be a prestige label that connects certain qualities with Graz which particularly raises the external attention for the city and thus, has the potential to increase the city’s image as an attractive location; and third, the City of Design with its widespread agenda to implement “design-thinking” in municipal decision-making processes might positively affect urban development in the long-term. Less frequently mentioned but still significant is that some members of the creative class consider the City of Design concept as a possibility to introduce more flexible and open approaches to traditionally rigid systems, for instance in order to simplify funding procedures or to reduce bureaucracy.

In this sense, the brand image of Graz as a UNESCO City of Design, based on the viewpoints of representatives of Graz’s creative class, is fairly consistent with the communicated brand ∗ ∗∗ identity by Graz’s image producers. Let me explain this more clearly: in this thesis (see chapter 2) I have described branding as a process which aims to positively affect the “place experience” of target audiences and which aims to create beneficial mental place associations – partly through promotional marketing but largely through campaigns of awareness-raising – in order to gradually develop and nurture desirable place perceptions (Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005; Anholt 2010; Zenker and Braun 2010). Interviewing a group of nine local creative workers, their opinions and considerations of the general situation in Graz gave me

∗ cf. 6.2.2 ∗∗ cf. 6.1.

- 122 - the impression that the City of Design process blends very well with these principles of branding theory as the process is largely directed to gradually changing the public attitudes and awareness of “design”, of the “creative economy” and of how urban development is connected with these topics.

“Design-thinking”, according to research participants, is central to implementing smart and effective solutions for a broad range of tasks and challenges in contemporary urban development. This broader understanding of “design” is considered to be progressively anchored especially in many branches of the overall local economy, and the City of Design is one aspect which fosters this process. The fact that the informants connect “design” with approaches to a holistic urban development further shows that the branding process in Graz matches with the principles of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which I described in section 4.7. in more detail. Namely in the sense that the creative potentials and capabilities of a city – visible for instance in the presence of a vivid creative economy – are a significant basis for social and economic progress (UNESCO 2013a).

The CIS as a networking agency is considered to be the most important institution for the improved situation of creative industries in recent years. For this reason it became apparent that comments and expressions used by creative workers to discuss Graz as a creative city mostly referred to the CIS in general and comparably seldom to the City of Design. This can be interpreted insofar that the specific designation of a City of Design – although mostly seen in a positive light and connected with positive future prospects for Graz – is not yet considered as essentially important. Much more important for the interviewees is that the CIS continues the networking between creative businesses and the general economy and that it initiates corresponding projects and events in order to preserve the dynamic development of creative endeavours in Graz.

The basic idea of the City of Design might probably have the greatest significance according to the interviewees, in making urban (political) stakeholders more aware of the need to embed design-thinking in fundamental decision-making-processes in order to deal more efficiently with urban development issues. This was also the most important point of critique when the informants were speaking about problems and obstacles of developing Graz as a well- established City of Design. “Design-thinking” – particularly on the municipal level – is considered as poor. Urban planning reality has been criticised for a lack of recognisable long-

- 123 - term visions. Equally a perceived gap between the political commitment to the City of Design-process in theory and in reality has been in the centre of critique. Hence, the City of Graz as the actual title holder, represented by the city government, needs to adopt more responsibilities in order to occupy a more tangible and publicly understandable position as the central stakeholder in the City of Design branding.

To conclude with, the majority of interviewed members of the creative class encounter the established City of Design brand by Graz’s image producers properly. Namely, that the City of Design is to be considered as a long-term process with the ultimate objective to gradually embed “design-thinking” in Graz’s economy, politics and society.

- 124 - 8. Conclusion

8.1. Introduction In this chapter I offer some concluding remarks on the branding process of Graz as a City of Design. I begin by highlighting that city marketers are increasingly adopting place branding strategies in order to create distinct place images and to specifically root them in the place experience of audiences. In this respect, the case of Graz reflects a branding process in its early stage (section 8.2.). Section 8.3. provides some concluding thoughts on the reasons why the notion of “creativity” and its appearance through creative industries is relevant to urban development processes. In section 8.4. I illustrate that a newly marketed place image such as “Graz UNESCO City of Design” can be perceived as appealing and irritating at the same time and can therefore tend to be endorsed and ignored simultaneously.

8.2. Branding is a means of creating deeply-rooted, distinct place images My analysis of the city of Graz and its recent positioning as a UNESCO City of Design has shown that city marketers adopt marketing and branding approaches in order to establish a specific place image, in this case an image of a liveable, competitive and creative city. My investigation of current literature on place marketing and place branding (see chapter 2) has highlighted that there is an increasingly wide body of academic work that investigates the strategic positioning of different kinds of places (cities, regions, countries) and how places can be differentiated from each other in order to compete with other places for capital and fame (Kavaratzis 2005; Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005). Even though a considerable amount of scholars argues that it is inappropriate to directly apply economic branding theory in order to establish place images (Hankinson 2001; Kavaratzis 2004; Stigel and Frimann 2006; Stöber 2007; Warnaby and Medway 2013), place branding becomes widely discussed and adopted, which I have shown with my exploration of branding in the city of Graz as well.

The outcomes I present regarding the City of Design process in Graz, combined with an examination of marketing literature, suggest that place images are not simply created and influenced through promotional campaigns. A popular viewpoint on creating prominent place images is to root them as mental constructs. With this regard I have discussed place branding as a marketing concept that deals with mental perceptions which are developed by “place consumers” (residents, visitors, businesses/investors) (Kotler et al. 1993; Beckmann and Zenker 2012). This process of place perception is highly complex, difficult to manage and

- 125 - cannot be entirely controlled by marketers because it would imply to exactly control the way in which audiences encounter a place and create sophisticated (mental) place associations, depending on individual experiences and personal preferences and values (Rainisto 2003; Kavaratzis 2004; Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005; Thompson et al. 2006; Anholt 2010; Zenker and Braun 2010; Aitken and Campelo 2011; Warnaby and Medway 2013).

What can be done to successfully brand a place is to enhance the “general climate” for the branding theme, for instance through public relations and media influence (Anholt 2010) or as noted in Graz, through the frequent implementation of practical projects and events which make the brand visible to a broad audience and most importantly, which make the brand image understandable to the local public. Image producers of Graz therefore try to root the topics of “design” and “City of Design” through an active place experience of audiences – namely, through presenting practical undertakings with visible (tangible) outcomes to the public. In this sense, marketers try to embed the topic of “design” in people ‘s experiences of the city because otherwise, the produced image of a City of Design does not stick to reality and would probably be perceived as a “false” or inappropriate image of the place being branded (e.g. Ward and Gold 1994, in: Colombino 2007).

One of the central arguments based on my research about Graz is that due to its close relation to marketing, place branding can be easily misunderstood, for instance by policy-makers or by the general public, as a tool of immediate image enhancement. In fact, branding can be considered as a marketing approach which certainly adopts promotional activities, such as advertising, in order to introduce a specific theme to the public. For example, in my analysis, I have discussed that city marketers organised promotional campaigns to publicly introduce Graz as a City of Design and to communicate the purpose of this process. However, the branding of Graz as a City of Design is now being further developed mainly through concrete design-related projects, through networking activities and through active lobbying by the CIS and by other City of Design marketers. Yet, “classic” marketing in the sense of place promotion is of subordinate importance in communicating Graz as a City of Design.

The analysed branding process in Graz therefore shows central aspects of place branding approaches which I discussed in chapter 2. Most significantly, it largely draws on the enhancement of public awareness for the benefits of “design”, and it simultaneously links this growing awareness with positive associations and directs it to Graz’s commitment as a City of

- 126 - Design. The aim of this process is to consequently nurture the presence of the branded theme in Graz as time goes by.

My findings therefore suggest that the concept of branding is adopted to deeply root a “new” awareness of Graz as a creative city and as a City of Design or as a city which draws on ∗ design-thinking in order to deal with urban issues in any respect. As “new” I consider not so much the mere act of fostering “creative” outputs by the city’s economy because “creativity” as a basic human skill has always been present in some form (Hubbard 2006; Currah 2009). By “new” I rather mean that city marketers want the notion of “design” to be considered as a comprehensive tool that strongly intervenes into all urban economic sectors and into social processes, including urban social policies, as well (cf. 8.3.).

The branding of Graz therefore reflects the difference to “classic” place promotion very well. That is to say to create and nurture the image of a City of Design on a long-term basis, not necessarily expecting to have immediate success. This becomes most evident through the fact that the process is continuously fostered through active project developments and networking, even though most of the interviewed informants noticed that the major part of Graz’s citizens knows little about the City of Design yet and do not really seem to be attracted to it. The interviewees – regardless if place marketers or creative workers – almost consistently expressed that one of the main targets – namely to implement a broad acceptance and endorsement for design-processes – might just become a matter of course in a decade or even more.

Furthermore, as places compete one against each other to attract different target groups (visitors, consumers, new residents, investors), place marketers such as local governments increasingly face a particular challenge: there is not simply the need for creating a consistent place image but there is also the need for producing a distinctive place image. Certainly, in order to produce a reliable and distinctive place image, the place itself must be distinctive and unique. In this sense, an ideal brand image should communicate effectively the place uniqueness. Graz faces this challenge as well because it aims to position itself as a creative city, a strategy that has been globally pursued by an almost uncountable number of cities in the past decade. On top of that, local governments tend to adopt the very same principles of

∗ cf. 6.2.1.

- 127 - the most popular creative city approaches, most frequently inspired by authors such as Richard Florida (2002; 2012) or Charles Landry (2000), as I discussed in chapter 3.

Yet, some of the image producers who manage the City of Design process in Graz argue that the specific case of being a UNESCO City of Design represents a more distinct place image than many other creative cities as it has the exclusivity of an UNESCO network with a comparably distinguishable designation. A central distinguishing feature is that this title enables city marketers to communicate both Graz as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and as part of the City of Design sub-network and to further combine it with Graz’s already well-established image as a culturally rich UNESCO World Heritage site. City marketers of Graz therefore face the challenge to express a multifaceted place representation based on the core themes of culture and more recently creativity, which is intentionally dominated by distinct UNESCO designations. Local policy makers and other stakeholders seem to consider the UNESCO seal as a reliable label which suggests certain place qualities and thus, creates beneficial and strong place associations.

Graz has already succeeded to convince parts of the non-creative economy and other economic stakeholders of the “power of design” (Stocker 2013) and of the valuable work provided by creative industries. In this sense, a branding process which aims to stepwise change the way how people encounter “design” can be detected. However, local city marketers have not yet succeeded to attract a greater attention as a creative city or design city amongst the majority of “non-creative” citizens of Graz. Basically all interviewed stakeholders and most of the interviewed creative workers described the City of Design branding as a process that is likely to develop positively over a long span of time (one to two decades). Informants tended to express this hope of a good development by highlighting Graz’s existing development potentials as higher than in many other European medium-sized cities.

8.3. “City of Design” and creative industries can be stimuli for urban development The case of Graz as a City of Design has shown that marketing and branding can be both, a consequence of and an impetus to urban development processes. Firstly, with my examination of Graz’s recent past I described that city marketers developed the current creative city strategies out of the city’s cultural basis. The local focus on the marketing and production of

- 128 - cultural content for several decades, culminating in the framework of 2003 with Graz being a European Capital of Culture, disclosed the high potential of local creative services and products and therefore induced a prominent discourse on “creativity” and the creative economy amongst Graz’s public officials and economic stakeholders. As a consequence, not only did public stakeholders adopt marketing and branding strategies to use the existing creative potentials but also to promote them and to position Graz as creative city and City of Design with a solid ground of existing creative infrastructures and further potentials to be developed.

Secondly, the introduced City of Design brand can also be seen as a stimulus for Graz’s further development, particularly in its economic and socio-cultural fabric. In the two empirical chapters (chapters 6 and 7) I have shown that both place marketers and members of the creative class of Graz think that the City of Design branding has positive impacts on the urban economy and specifically on creative industries as it contributes to raising the awareness for the benefits of creative services. I have also shown that city marketers consider the City of Design as a potential that contributes to embed practical thinking or rather ∗ “design-thinking” into political and economic decision-making in order to develop efficient solutions for a broad range of challenges. As it is – not solely but particularly – the creative economy that provides knowledge and means to create most practical solutions to a multitude of challenges, local and regional policy makers consider them to be a main source of innovation.

In other words, the City of Design process in Graz aims to appropriate the basic principles of “design-thinking” and the knowledge of creative industries in order to deal with urban challenges. This is also the reason why public officials of Graz decided not just to promote Graz as a creative city – a strategy which has experienced almost inflationary application in recent years (Vanolo 2008, Bain 2010) and largely shows tendencies of “serial reproduction” of a common concept (Harvery 1989, in: Vanolo 2008). They rather implemented the branding process of Graz as City of Design in order to publicly communicate to local and external entrepreneurs, to creative workers and to residents that design “matters” in economy just like in approaching urban social policy.

∗ cf. 6.2.1.

- 129 - Creative industries of Graz occupy diverse branches – ranging from architecture to graphic design, from music and performing arts to industrial design – and therefore offer multifaceted knowledge and means which public officials can potentially use as “instruments” for urban policy. This can be compared to some extent to Landry’s assumption on The Creative City (2002), who argues that political stakeholders can “use” creative thinking in order to deal particularly with social issues (for instance unequal access to mobility, social fragmentation etc. – cf. 3.3.). In that sense it can be argued that creative industries and their work are a source of inspiration for efficient problem-solving.

Furthermore, the creative industries of Graz have also become significant economic actors with a high economic potential during the past decade. They are in fact largely interwoven into Graz’s general economy as they frequently provide services to non-creative sectors (see section 4.6.). Thus they have a particular value for the city’s economic development and its increasing economic competitiveness (cf. chapter 4). The adoption of “creativity” in urban and regional development plans of Graz and Styria aims to position the region and its capital as creative hot spots. In other words, “creativity” has been institutionalised as the creative economy became a central pillar in Graz’s urban development objectives.

The case study of Graz also confirms what has already become apparent in academic papers, namely that creativity-oriented strategies are rather young phenomena in urban policies (Vanolo 2008; Currah 2009; Zenker 2009). Despite the fact that Graz has been promoted as a city of culture for several decades, the explicit positioning as a creative location did not start before 2008/2009 with the application to become a City of Design. Even a general discourse about creativity in Graz does not go back any longer than to the year 2003 with Graz being the European Capital of Culture.

It has just been in the past one and a half decades that “creativity” has significantly emerged in place marketing discourses (chapter 3). According to some scholars and economists (e.g. Florida 2002; Stevenson 2003; García 2004; Zenker 2009) the most crucial factor of a places’ development is its human capital in general and the presence of skilled people in particular. Place marketers such as local policy makers tend to reproduce this assumption – especially orientate themselves towards Florida’s popular discourse on creativity – and increasingly adopt marketing activities in order to attract creative people. I have shown that this is an aspect which is also applicable to the city of Graz to a certain extent because one of the objectives of

- 130 - the current branding as a City of Design is to further attract skilled people. However, it must be said that the branding approach of Graz is neither limited to the creative class nor to economic progress but is directed to a more comprehensive view on development processes.

In sum, I have attempted to show how Graz’s creative workers perceive the city of Design as a concept that has the potential to foster a stronger comprehensive urban development and that is associated with their hope to improve the city’s liveability in the long-term (see chapter 7). As such chapters 6 and 7 show place branding not just as an approach to establish a specific image but to root and nurture it through comprehensive and transparent approaches in urban policy (cf. García 2004; Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2005; Kavaratzis 2007, in: Mateo and Seisdedos 2010). Although the City of Design process is still at an early stage of implementation my research has confirmed that city marketers commit to adopting creative thinking as a basis to plan and build the city of Graz place-consumer-oriented in all its facets.

8.4. Place images can be appealing and irritating at the same time A widespread claim in place marketing and place branding literature is that place marketers tend to create images which do not properly display a place’s real characteristics (Atkinson et al. 2002; Ashworth and Kavaratzis 2010). Thus, scholars frequently discuss gaps or mismatches between a created place identity and how audiences experience the place image in reality (Colombino 2007; Ashworth and Kavaratzis 2010; Mateo and Seisdedos 2010).

My analysis of the brand “Graz UNESCO City of Design” suggests that it is a “polarising theme” at this early stage of implementation because it shows two different tendencies: the communicated brand is perceived as rather coherently and positive by “experts” of the designer scene, the creative economy and also by non-creative actors who actively come into touch with this theme. Yet the interviewed creative workers as well as half of the City of Design image producers argue that the wider public knows little about Graz as a City of Design and might even get partly confused by the theme. Thus, the brand tends to be endorsed by “experts” and ignored by “ordinary” citizens simultaneously.

With regard to the creative class in Graz, the widespread critique in literature on gaps between brand identity and brand image does not become significantly nurtured by my analysis of the City of Design branding. The critique offered by the creative workers I interviewed on the City of Design largely points to organisational weaknesses in the project implementation. Yet,

- 131 - the fact that Graz communicates itself as a creative city and a City of Design is neither rejected nor perceived as inappropriate. The outcome shows that it tends to be appreciated. In some cases the branded image caused a kind of cautious or distanced attitude because some informants did not see a real need for positioning Graz specifically as a UNESCO City of Design. Yet, even those people who challenged the necessity of this positioning do not oppose the image that is being branded but rather take it as a new feature of the city that needs to be developed and further justified through carefully planned activities.

With regard to “ordinary” citizens who have no specific relation to design and to creative industries or who have no greater interest in city policy, some public stakeholders and most of the creative workers I interviewed expressed some kind of concern. Namely, that those “ordinary” citizens have remained rather unaffected so far and might even get irritated to some extent by the City of Design theme. “Irritation” has been explained in the sense that design-processes – even though communicated through ongoing practical projects – can be highly complex which is why it might not be particularly appealing to unconcerned citizens to consider the City of Design theme in detail. However, I want to stress that this should not be interpreted as a gap between the publicly communicated identity and the individually perceived image. It can rather be interpreted as a problem that is attributed to the fact that “City of Design” is a highly sophisticated and multilayered theme which is both difficult to communicate and difficult to be correctly understood. The theme might therefore be challenging and might appear as confusing to non-experts.

To that effect, one cannot take my analysis as an argument for a possibly refusing public attitude or a fundamentally negative public perception of the City of Design process in Graz. Yet, the viewpoints of a diverse range of seventeen actors of Graz I interviewed suggest that the wider public tends to ignore the brand so far, most likely due to a lack of personal connection to the theme and maybe also due to a lack of general interest. This is an issue that however needs to be further investigated by exploring in more detail how Graz’s residents perceive their city’s marketed image as a City of Design.

8.5. Conclusion In my thesis on Place branding and the creative economy: Graz as a UNESCO City of Design I have explored contemporary approaches of place branding in Austria’s second largest city, the city of Graz. The thesis has shown how local stakeholders such as the city government and

- 132 - professional place marketers strategically created a distinct brand image of Graz, based on the themes of a UNESCO Creative City and a UNESCO City of Design. I have shown that the creative scene and creative industries of Graz became central stakeholders for the city as they are both audiences and actors within the City of Design branding. The main outcome suggests that the introduced theme of a City of Design reflects an early stage of branding because the awareness for “design” and creative services” is enhanced amongst urban stakeholders, so far mainly amongst entrepreneurs from different economic sectors. Furthermore, my outcomes suggest that the City of Design is commonly accepted as a long-term strategy aimed to contribute to sustainable urban development processes. In this regard I was also able to demonstrate that the creative scene of Graz tends to perceive the brand image of Graz as a UNESCO City of Design as consistent to the intention of local image producers.

My thesis has contributed to further explore the recent phenomenon of place branding as a particular approach of place marketing. I have shown that the creation of place images is a complex issue that is dependent on a multitude of individual place experiences, the consequence being that place images are not perceived consistently. I provided new insights into potential city branding themes as the specific designation of a UNESCO City of Design has not yet been explored as a case of branding. Furthermore, I offered a new insight into city branding as the case of Graz suggests that city marketers may pursue a strategy of acquiring different official UNESCO designations, such as “UNESCO Creative City” and “UNESCO World Cultural Heritage” in order to establish a distinct brand image – distinct to a multitude of similar creative city approaches worldwide. My exploration of the case study of Graz also encourages the reader to discuss “branding” not exclusively as a marketing tool which is aimed to facilitate a place’s popularity and economic success – which admittedly, is its main purpose. My study rather encourages the reader to consider branding more comprehensively as a process which can also induce new discourses on a multitude of urban issues such as urban social policies or the efficient planning of the built environment. Thereby this thesis suggests that place branding may not just be seen as a matter of representing a place’s unique features. Place branding, in this sense, may also be seen as an impetus for current and future urban development processes.

- 133 - 9. Bibliography

9.1. Literature Aaker, D., A. (2004): Brand portfolio strategy: Creating relevance, differentiation, energy, leverage and clarity. Free Press, New York

Aitken, R. and Campelo, A. (2011): The four R’s of place branding. – In: Journal of Marketing Management , Vol. 27, Issue 9-10, pp. 913-933

Alakavuk and Kuyucu (2009): The Role of UNESCO World Heritage List on Cultural Branding: Divrigi & Troy – Two Case Studies from Turkey. – In: Pechlaner, H., Abfalter, D. and Lange, S. (eds.), Culture and Creativity as Location Factors – looking beyond Metropolitan Areas . Conference series, Innsbruck University Press, pp. 139-154

Andersson, M. (2010): Place branding and place promotion efforts in the Baltic Sea Region – a situation analysis. Baltic Development Forum, Copenhagen

Anholt, S. (2003): Branding places and nations. – In: Clifton, R. and Simmons, J. (eds.), Brands and Branding . The Economist in association with Profile Books Ltd., London, pp. 213-226

Anholt, S. (2005): Some important distinctions in place branding. – In: Place Branding , Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 116-121

Anholt, S. (2010): Definitions of place branding – Working towards a resolution. – In: Place Branding and Public Diplomacy , Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1-10

Ashworth, G., J. and Kavaratzis M. (2009): Beyond the Logo: Brand Management for Cities. – In: Journal of Brand Management , Vol. 16, No. 8, pp. 520-531

Ashworth, G., J. and Kavaratzis M. (2010): Place Branding: where do we stand? – In: Ashworth, G. and Kavaratzis M. (eds.), Towards Effective Place Brand Management: Branding European Cities and Regions , pp. 1-14

- 134 - Atkinson, D., Cooke, S. and Spooner, D. (2002): Tales from the Riverbank: place- marketing and maritime heritages. – In: International Journal of Heritage Studies , Vol. 8, Issue 1, pp. 25-40

Atkinson, R. and Easthope, H. (2009): The Consequences of the Creative Class: The Pursuit of Creativity Strategies in Australia’s Cities. – In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp. 64-79

Bain, A. (2010): Creativ* Suburbs – Cultural “popcorn” pioneering in multi-purpose spaces. – In: Edensor, T., Leslie, D., Millington, S. and Rantisi, N., M. (eds.), Spaces of Vernacular Creativity . Routledge, Oxon, pp. 63-75

Beckmann, S., C. and Zenker, S. (2012): Place Branding: A Multiple Stakeholder Perspective. Conference paper at the 41st European Marketing Academy Conference, Lisbon

Bounds, A., M. (2010): Creative Class. – In: Hutchison, R. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Urban Studies . Sage Publications Inc., Thoursand Oaks, pp. 188-189

Braun, E., Kavaratzis, M., and Zenker, S. (2010): My City - My Brand: The Role of Residents in Place Branding. Conference paper at the 50th European Regional Science Association Congress, Jönköping

Budd, L. (1998): Territorial Competition and Globalisation: Scylla and Charybdis of European Cities. – In: Urban Studies , Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 663-685

Catungal, J., P. and Leslie, D. (2009): Placing power in the creative city: governmentalities and subjectivities in Liberty Village, Toronto. – In: Environment and Planning , Vol. 41, Issue 11, pages 2576-2594

CIS (2009a): Bewerbung. – In: Wir bewerben uns – Die Bewerbung der Stadt Graz als UNESCO „City of Design“ , Creative Industries Styria, Graz

- 135 - CIS (2009b): Designmonat Graz – Magazin. Alles über Design aus der Steiermark – im ersten Designmonat Österreichs. Creative Industries Styria, Graz

CIS (2012): 365 Tage City of Design – Presseunterlagen. Creative Industries Styria, Graz

CIS (2013a): Zwei Jahre UNESCO City of Design – Argumenter. Creative Industries Styria, Graz

Colomb, C. and Kalandides A. (2010): The “be Berlin” campaign: old wine in new bottles or innovative form of participatory place branding? – In: Ashworth, G. and Kavaratzis M. (eds.), Towards Effective Place Brand Management: Branding European Cities and Regions , pp. 173-190

Colombino, A. (2007): The geographies and audiences of place marketing: Trieste's bid for the 2008 World Expo. Thesis (Ph.D.), Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

Cope, M. (2005): Coding Qualitative Data. – In: Hay, I. (ed.): Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography . Second Edition, Oxford University Press, USA, pp. 223-233

Currah, A. (2009): Creativity. – In: Kitchin, R. and Thrift, N. (eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography . Vol. 1, Elsevier, Amsterdam cwa (2009): Third Austrian Report on Creative Industries – Summary. arge creativ wirtschaft austria (cwa), Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Vienna da Silveira, C., Lages, C. and Simões, C. (2011): Reconceptualizing brand identity in a dynamic environment. – In: Journal of Business Research , Vol. 66, Issue 1, pp. 28–36

Deffner, A. and Metaxas, T. (2006): Is City Marketing Opposed to Urban Planning? The Elaboration of a Pilot City Marketing Plan for the case of Nea Ionia, Magnesia, Greece. Conference paper at the 46 th Congress of the European Regional Science Association, Volos, Greece

- 136 - Deffner, A. and Metaxas, T. (2010): Place marketing, local identity and branding cultural images in Southern Europe: Nea Ionia, Greece and Pafos, Cyprus. – In: Ashworth, G. and Kavaratzis M. (eds.), Towards Effective Place Brand Management: Branding European Cities and Regions , pp. 49-68

Duncan, J. and Duncan, N. (1996): Reconceptualizing the idea of culture in geography: a reply to Don Mitchell. – In: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series , Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 576-579

Dunn, K. (2010): Interviewing. – In: Hay, I. (ed.): Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography . Third Edition, Oxford University Press, USA, pp. 101-138

Evans, G. (2003): Hard-branding the Cultural City – from Prado to Prada. – In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , Vol. 27, Issue 2, pp. 417–440

Fan, Y. (2005): Branding the nation: What is being branded? – In: Journal of Vacation Marketing , Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 5–14

Florida, R. (2002): The Rise of the Creative Class and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. Basic Books, New York

Florida, R. (2003): Cities and the creative class. – In: City & Community , Vol. 2, Issue 1, pp. 3–19

Florida, R. (2005): Why are some places more successful than others at encouraging economic growth? – In: New Scientist , Magazine 2523 (October 29, 2005), Reed Business Information UK Ltd.

Florida, R. (2012): The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited. 10 th Anniversary Edition, Basic Books, New York

García, B. (2004): Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration in Western European Cities: Lessons from Experience, Prospects for the Future. – In: Local Economy , Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 312-326

- 137 - Gertner, D. and Kotler, P. (2002): Country as brand, product, and beyond: A place marketing and brand management perspective. – In: Journal of Brand Management , Vol. 9, No. 4-5, pp. 249-261

Gibson, C. and Davidson, D. (2004): Tamworth, Australia’s “country music capital”: place marketing, rurality, and resident reactions. – In: Journal of Rural Studies , Vol. 20, Issue 4, pp. 387-404

Gordon, I. (1999): Internationalisation and Urban Competition. – In: Urban Studies , Vol. 36, No. 5-6, pp. 1001-1016

Gospodini, A. (2002): European Cities in Competition and the New “Uses” of Urban Design. – In: Journal of Urban Design , Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 59-73

Government of Styria (2011): Economic Strategy Styria 2020 – growth through innovation. Department 14, Economic Affairs and Innovation, Graz

Grubmüller, V., Kohl, M., Lechner, D., Lehner, A., Philipp, T. and Ratzenböck, V. (2008): Der Mehrwert von Kunst und Kultur für den städtischen Raum. Österreichischer Städtebund, Wien

Gundlach, G., T. (2006): Whither "Marketing"? Commentary on the AMA's New Definition of Marketing. – In: Sheth, J., N. and Sisodia, R., S. (eds.), Does Marketing Need Reform? Fresh Perspectives on the Future . M.E. Sharpe Inc., pp. 105-108

Hall, T. and Hubbard, P. (1996): The entrepreneurial city: new urban politics, new urban geographies? – In: Progress in Human Geography , Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 153-174

Hankinson, G. (2001): Location branding: A study of the branding practices of 12 English cities. – In: Brand Management , Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 127-142

Hankinson, G. and Cowking, P. (1993): Branding in action: Cases and strategies for profitable brand management. McGraw-Hill Book Co Ltd., London, New York

- 138 - Hannigan, J. (2003): Symposium on Branding, the Entertainment Economy and Urban Place Building: Introduction. – In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 352-360

Hartley, J. (2005): Creative industries. – In: Hartley, J. (ed.), Creative industries . Blackwell Publishing, Malden, pp. 1-40

Hubbard, P. (1996): Urban Design and City Regeneration: Social Representations of Entrepreneurial Landscapes. – In: Urban Studies , Vol. 33, No. 8, pp. 1441-1461

Hubbard, P. (2006): City. Key Ideas in Geography series , Routledge, Oxon, New York

Jacobsen, B., P. (2009): Investor-based place brand equity: a theoretical framework. – In: Journal of Place Management and Development , Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 70-84

Julier, G. (2008): Design Cities: Brand Value. Seminar paper for the “Changing Cultures of Competitiveness: Conceptual and Policy Issues - ESRC Seminar Series”, Lancaster University

Kavaratzis, M. (2004): From city marketing to city branding: Towards a theoretical framework for developing city brands. – In: Place Branding , Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp. 58-73

Kavaratzis, M. (2005): Place Branding: A Review of Trends and Conceptual Models. – In: The Marketing Review , Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 329-342

Kavaratzis, M. (2005): Branding the City through Culture and Entertainment. Conference paper at the AESOP 2005 Conference, Vienna

Kavaratzis, M. and Ashworth, G., J. (2005): City branding: An effective assertion of identity or a transitory marketing trick? – In: Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie , Vol. 96, No. 5, pp. 506-514

Keller, K., L. (1998): Strategic brand management: building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Prentice Hall Publisher, New Jersey

- 139 - Knox, P., L. (1997): Globalization and Urban Economic Change. – In : The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , Vol. 551, No. 1, pp. 17-27

Kotler, P. (1997): Marketing management: analysis, planning, implementation and control. 9th edition, Pearson US Imports & PHIPEs, New Jersey

Kotler, P., Hamlin, M., A., Rein, I. and Haider, D., H. (2002): Marketing Asian Places: Attracting Investment, Industry and Tourism to Cities, States and Nations. John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd

Kotler, P., Rein, I. and Haider, D., H. (1993): Marketing Places: Attracting Investment, Industry, and Tourism to Cities, States, and Nations. The Free Press, New York

Krätke, S. (2004): City of Talents? Berlin’s Regional Economy, Socio-Spatial Fabric and “Worst Practice” Urban Governance. – In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , Vol. 28, Issue 3, pp. 511–529

Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt (2001): STEK 3.04 – Stadtentwicklungskonzept der Landeshauptstadt Graz. Projektgruppe Stadtentwicklungskonzept – Flächenwidmungsplan, Stadtplanungsamt Graz

Magistrat Graz – Stadtplanungsamt (2012): STEK 4.0 – Stadtentwicklungskonzept Graz. Projektgruppe Stadtentwicklungskonzept – Flächenwidmungsplan, Stadtplanungsamt Graz

Magistrat Graz – Präsidialabteilung (2013): Bevölkerungsstatistik der Landeshauptstadt Graz. Referat für Statistik, Graz

Mateo and Seisdedos (2010): Branding Madrid: from “Madrid Global” to “global Madrid”. – In: Ashworth, G. and Kavaratzis M. (eds.), Towards Effective Place Brand Management: Branding European Cities and Regions , pp. 69-88

McCann, E., J. (2009): City Marketing. – In: Kitchin, R. and Thrift, N. (eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography , Vol. 2, Elsevier Ltd, pp. 119-124

- 140 - Mitchell, D. (1995): There's No Such Thing as Culture: Towards a Reconceptualization of the Idea of Culture in Geography. – In: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series , Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 102-116

Morgan, N., Pritchard, A. and Pride, R. (2002): Destination Branding: Creating the Unique Destination Proposition. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford

Musterd, S., Bontje, M., Chapain, C., Kovacs, Z. and Murie, A. (2007): Accommodating creative knowledge – A literature review from a European perspective. ACRE report 1, AMIDSt, University of Amsterdam

Paddison, R. (1993): City Marketing, Image Reconstruction and Urban Regeneration. – In: Urban Studies , Vol. 30, No. 2., pp. 339-350

Peck, J. (2005): Struggling with the Creative Class. – In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research , Vol. 29, Issue 4, pp. 740-770

Pike, A. (2009): Geographies of brands and branding. – In: Progress in Human Geography , Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 619-645

Pike, S. (2009): Destination brand positions of a competitive set of near-home destinations. – In: Tourism Management , Vol. 30, Issue 6, pp. 857-866.

Potter, J. (2004): Discourse Analysis. – In: Hardy, M., A. and Bryman, A. (eds.), Handbook of Data Analysis . SAGE Publications Ltd, London, pp. 607-624

Potter, J. and Wetherell, M. (1994): Analyzing discourse. – In: Bryman, A. and Burgess, R., G. (eds.), Analyzing Qualitative Data . Routledge, New York, pp. 47-66

Rainisto, S., K. (2003): Success factors of place marketing: A case study of place marketing practices in northern Europe and the United States. Doctoral dissertation, Helsinki University of Technology

- 141 - Rantisi, N. and Leslie, D. (2006): Branding the Design Metropole: the case of Montreal, Canada. – In: Area , Vol. 38, Issue 4, pp. 364-376

Ross, J. (2010): Was That Infinity or Affinity? Applying Insights From Translation Studies to Qualitative Research Transcription. – In: Forum: Qualitative Social Research , Vol. 11, No. 2, Art. 2

Rossello, P. and Wright, S. (2010): Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit. Creative and Cultural Economy series 2, British Council Creative Economy Unit, BOP Consulting, London

Runia, P., Wahl, F., Geyer, O. und Thewißen, C. (2011): Marketing: Eine prozess- und praxisorientierte Einführung. 3. Auflage, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München

Schwar, S. (2009): Graz als „City of Design“. – In: Designmonat Graz – Magazin. Alles über Design aus der Steiermark – im ersten Designmonat Österreichs . Graz, pp. 12-13

Stadt Graz – Wirtschaft (2011): Wirtschaftsstrategie Graz 2015. Beilage zum Gemeinderatsbericht. Abteilung für Wirtschafts- und Tourismusentwicklung, Graz

Stevenson, D. (2003): Cities and Urban Cultures. Issues in Cultural and Media Studies, Open University Press, Philadelphia

Stigel, J. and Frimann, S. (2006): City Branding – All Smoke, No Fire? – In: Nordicom Review , Vol. 27, Issue 2, pp. 245-268

Stöber, B. (2007): Von ”brandneuen“ Städten und Regionen – Place Branding und die Rolle der visuellen Medien. – In: Social Geography , Vol. 2, Issue 1, pp. 47–61

Stocker, K. (2013): The Power of Design. A journey through the 11 UNESCO Cities of Design. Springer-Verlag, Wien

- 142 - Taylor, S. (2001): Locating and Conducting Discourse Analytic Research. – In: Wetherell, M., Taylor, S. and Yates, S., J. (eds.), Discourse as Data. A Guide for Analysis . The Open University, Milton Keynes and Sage Publications Ltd, London, pp. 5-48.

Thompson, C., J., Rindfleisch, A. and Arsel, Z. (2006): Emotional Branding and the Strategic Value of the Doppelgänger Brand Image. – In: Journal of Marketing , Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 50-64

Tonkiss, F. (1998): Analysing discourse. – In: Seale, C. (ed.): Researching Society and Culture . SAGE Publications ltd., pp. 245-260

Traxler, J., Grossgasteiger, S., Kurzmann, R. und Ploder, M. (2006a): Potenzialanalyse Kreativwirtschaft im Großraum Graz – Kurzfassung. – In: Sparte Information und Consulting der Wirtschaftskammer Steiermark (Hg.), creative: graz, Kreativwirtschaft im Großraum Graz – Potenzialanalyse , Graz

Traxler, J., Grossgasteiger, S., Kurzmann, R. und Ploder, M. (2006b): Potenzialanalyse Kreativwirtschaft im Großraum Graz – Kurzfassung und Langfassung. JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Graz

Vanolo, A. (2008): The image of the creative city: Some reflections on urban branding in Turin. – In: Cities , Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 370-382

Warnaby, G. and Medway, D. (2013): What about the “place” in place marketing? – In: Marketing Theory , Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 1-19

Wilson, D. and Keil, R. (2008): Commentary – The real creative class. – In: Social & Cultural Geography , Vol. 9, No. 8, pp. 841-847

Wood, L. (2000): Brands and brand equity: definition and management. – In: Management Decision , Vol. 38, Issue 9, pp. 662-669

Zenker, S. (2009): Who’s your target? The creative class as a target group for place branding. – In: Journal of Place Management and Development , Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 23-32

- 143 - Zenker, S. and Braun, E. (2010): The Place Brand Centre – A Conceptual Approach for Place Branding and Place Brand Management. Conference paper at the 39th European Marketing Academy Conference, Copenhagen

Zenker, S., Eggers, F. and Farsky, M. (2012): Putting a price tag on cities: Insights into the competitive environment of places. – In: Cities , Vol. 30, Issue 1, pp. 133-139

Zhu, H., Qian, J. and Gao, Y. (2010): Globalization and the production of city image in Guangzhou’s metro station advertisements. – In: Cities , Vol. 28, Issue 3, pp. 221–229

9.2. Internet sources Agrarmarkt Austria (2013): Capital of Culinary Delights http://www.amaexport.at/en/ama-marketing.html [Access: April 12 th , 2013]

Alexander Rauch Photography (2013): Redesign the Market https://www.facebook.com/redesignthemarket/photos_stream [Access: July 21 st , 2013]

AMA (2013a): Resource Library – Dictionary, “Marketing” http://www.marketingpower.com/_layouts/dictionary.aspx?dLetter=M [Access: January 28 th , 2013]

AMA (2013b): Resource Library – Dictionary, “Brand image” http://www.marketingpower.com/_layouts/dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B [Access: January 28 th , 2013]

Biorama (2013): Designmonat 2013 http://www.biorama.at/designmonat-graz-industriedesign-fur-kinder/ [Access: September 2nd , 2013]

CIS (2009c): Wir bewerben uns – Graz als UNESCO City of Design http://www.wirtschaft.steiermark.at/cms/dokumente/11150086_11526613/50516b4a/Press emappe_City_of_Design.pdf [Access: April 29 th , 2013]

- 144 - CIS (2009d): Facts about the Creative Industries Styria http://www.cis.at/en/organisation/faqs?d=0 [Access: April 20 th , 2013]

CIS (2009e): Facts about the City of Design. http://www.cis.at/de/organisation/faqs?d=3 [Access: May 1 st , 2013]

CIS (2009f): CIS owners http://www.cis.at/en/organisation/eigentumer?set_language=en [Access: May 1 st , 2013]

CIS (2009g): Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft – Adventure World Economy http://www.cis.at/en/CISKeyProjects/cis-keyprojects/erlebniswelt-wirtschaft [Access: August 23 rd , 2013]

CIS (2011): Graz ist UNESCO City of Design. Pressemappe Deutsch http://www.cis.at/de/Schwerpunkte/cis-leitprojekte/downloads/graz-ist-unesco-city-of- design [Access: April 29 th , 2013]

CIS (2013b): Logo Creative Industries Styria http://www.cis.at/de/formulare/presse/downloads/creative-industries-styria [Access: May 15 th , 2013]

CIS (2013c): Eberhard Schrempf http://www.cis.at/de/formulare/presse/downloads/e-schrempf/view [Access: May 15 th , 2013]

CIS (2013d): Logo UNESCO City of Design Graz http://www.graz-cityofdesign.at/de [Access: May 15 th , 2013]

CIS (2013e): City Guide Graz http://www.graz-cityofdesign.at/de/graz-design/cityguide [Access: July 22 nd , 2013]

CIS (2013f): SunnyBAG http://www.graz-cityofdesign.at/en/output/detail/96/sunnybag--go-catch-the-sun- [Access: September 2 nd , 2013]

- 145 - CIS (2013g): Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft http://www.erlebniswelt-wirtschaft.at/fuer_besucher/die_firmen/ats.php [Access: September 2 nd , 2013]

City of Graz (2012): Graz in Numbers http://www.graz.at/cms/beitrag/10193379/4519118 [Access: April 3 rd , 2013]

City of Graz (2013): A Short History of the City http://www.graz.at/cms/ziel/4519230/EN/ [Access: April 3 rd , 2013]

Der Standard (2012): Steiermark: Ende für Projekt "Beta Lab". Newspaper article, March 14 th , 2012 http://derstandard.at/1331207305360/Steiermark-Ende-fuer-Projekt-Beta-Lab [Access: June 15 th , 2013]

Der Standard (2013): Designmonat 2013 http://derstandard.at/1363709759760/Mai-an-der-Mur-Designmonat-2013 [Access: September 2 nd , 2013]

Design Bote (2013): Map of the UNESCO Cities of Design http://www.designbote.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/unesco-cities-of-design.jpg [Access: September 1 st , 2013]

Die Presse (2011): „Graz: Mit der Taktik der Ameisen zur Kreativmetropole“. Newspaper article, May 7 th , 2011 http://diepresse.com/home/leben/kreativ/660219/Graz_Mit-der-Taktik-der-Ameisen-zur- Kreativmetropole [Access: April 10 th , 2013]

Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft (2013a): art+event, Dekorationswerkstatt https://picasaweb.google.com/102314511829700710821/ArtEventDekorationswerkstatt# [Access: September 2 nd, 2013]

- 146 - Erlebniswelt Wirtschaft (2013b): Gaulhofer https://picasaweb.google.com/102314511829700710821/Gaulhofer#56592318833709624 34 [Access: September 2 nd , 2013]

EURIB (2013): City branding. European Institute for Brand Management http://www.eurib.org/en/knowledge-resource-centre/online-resource-centre/city- branding.html [Access: July 26 th , 2013]

European Commission (2013): European Capital of Culture http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/capitals/history-of-the- capitals_en.htm [Access: March 30 th , 2013]

Flickr (2013): Designmonat 2013 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciscommunity/8738492708/sizes/l/in/set- 72157633423526437/ [Access: September 2 nd , 2013]

GIS Land Steiermark (2013): Basic map layer of Austria http://gis2.stmk.gv.at/atlas/%28S%28mutlph551pb4pzvhkbubhb55%29%29/init.aspx?kart e=basis_bilder&ks=das&cms=da&massstab=800000 [Access: August 31 st , 2013]

Graz Tourism (2013): Capital of Culinary Delights http://www.graztourismus.at/cms/ziel/2874907/DE/ [Access: April 10 th , 2013]

Jo-Anna (2013): Images of Design von GRA-Z http://jo-anna.at/jo/2012/09/04/graz-sitzt-auf-seinen-17-buchstaben/ [Access: September 2nd , 2013]

Österreichischer Rundfunk (2013): Ein Kraftwerk in der Tasche http://stmv1.orf.at/magazin/immergutdrauf/bewusstleben/stories/537648/ [Access: September 2 nd , 2013]

ÖVP (2013): „Unser Graz“. Programm Grazer Volkspartei 2013-2018 http://www.grazervp.at/themen [Access: May 1 st , 2013]

- 147 - PDHRE (2011): Human Right Cities http://www.pdhre.org/projects/hrcommun.html [Access: April 10 th , 2013]

Profil (2012) : „Der Hutbürger und zwei ziemlich beste Freunde“. Newspaper article, December 11 th , 2012 http://www.profil.at/articles/1250/560/348400/der-hutbuerger-freunde [Access: April 10 th , 2013]

SFG (2013a): Core competence „creative economy“ http://www.sfg.at/index.php?id=3680 [Access: May 1 st , 2013]

SFG (2013b): Styrian Business Promotion Agency http://www.sfg.at/cms/2373/ [Access: May 1 st , 2013]

SMartEu (2012a): What we do http://www.smart-eu.org/projects/ [Access: June 11 th , 2013]

SMartEu (2012b): About us http://www.smart-eu.org/about/ [Access: June 11 th , 2013]

Stadt Graz (2013): Auszeichnungen http://www.graz.at/cms/beitrag/10034499/606033/ [Access: April 2 nd , 2013]

UNESCO (2013a): Brochure UNESCO Creative Cities Network http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Creative_cities_broc hure_en.pdf [Access: May 14 th , 2013]

UNESCO (2013b): Why Cities http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-cities-network/why- cities/ [Access: May 14 th , 2013]

UNESCO (2013c): Information about the Members http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-cities-network/who-are- the-members/ [Access: September 1 st , 2013]

- 148 - 9.3. Interviews Bauer, D. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, March 14 th , 2013

Fuisz, M. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 15 th , 2013

Giselbrecht, E. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, March 25 th , 2013

Kastner, I. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 10 th , 2013

Krammer, M. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 11 th , 2013

Lercher, H. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, March 19 th , 2013

Nagu, A. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, March 27 th , 2013

Pavlovec-Meixner, A. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner. Graz, April 8 th , 2013

Prechtl, J. (2013): E-Mail interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 23 rd , 2013

Rampitsch, M. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, March 27 th , 2013

Rücker, L. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 25 th , 2013

Rüsch, G. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, May 21 st , 2013

Sablatnig, P. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 12 th , 2013

Schrempf, E. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 9 th , 2013

Stocker, K. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 24 th , 2013

Unger, S. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 13 th , 2013

Weiss, M. (2013): Interview, conducted by Michael Bodner, Graz, April 9 th , 2013

- 149 - Appendix 1: List of interviews with actors involved in the branding of Graz as a UNESCO City of Design

Name Role Date Length of interviewee of interviewee of interview of interview

Chairman of the Advertising and Market Communication Sector Heimo Lercher of the Styrian Chamber of March 25 th , 2013 38 min. Commerce; Member of the City of Design Board

Local councillor (Green Party) Mag.a Andrea with a focus on the creative April 8 th , 2013 25 min. Pavlovec-Meixner economy; Member of the City of Design Board

CEO Creative Industries Styria Mag. Eberhard (CIS); Chairman of the City of April 9 th , 2013 51 min. Schrempf Design Board

Mag. Dr. Mario Managing partner of Trigon April 9 th , 2013 10 min. Weiss Consulting

Owner of KMDCC – Consultants for Creative DI Martin Krammer Economy Projects ; Architect; April 11 th , 2013 45 min. Member of the City of Design Board

Head of the Departments of Exhibition Design and Information Design at the FH Univ.-Doz. Dr. Karl Joanneum (University of April 24 th , 2013 32 min. Stocker Applied Sciences); Member of the City of Design Board; Book author

- 150 - City councillor (Green Party) for culture, environment and public Lisa Rücker April 25 th , 2013 29 min. health; Deputy mayor of Graz until January 2013

City councillor (ÖVP) for Univ.-Doz. DI Dr. finances and accounting, May 21 st , 2013 34 min. Gerhard Rüsch economic and touristic development

- 151 - Appendix 2: List of interviews with creative workers of Graz

Name Role Date Length of interviewee of interviewee of interview of interview

Founder and owner of the DI Daniel Bauer motion design agency Shot March 14 th , 2013 40 min. Shot Shot

Architect; Owner of the DI Ernst Giselbrecht architectural office Ernst March 19 th , 2013 28 min. Giselbrecht + Partner

Founder and general manager Heimo Lercher of the advertising agency I- March 25 th , 2013 38 min. Punkt

Founder and owner of the Mario Rampitsch interdisciplinary design March 27 th , 2013 29 min. agency En Garde

Motion designer (from Spain), Almudena Nagu doing a half-year internship March 27 th , 2013 10 min. with Shot Shot Shot

Founder and owner of kwirl , a Iris Kastner April 10 th , 2013 36 min. shop for sustainable design

Sales manager with Bene Peter Sablatnig MBA April 12 th , 2013 26 min. Office Furniture

Autodidact graphic designer; Freelance graphic designer with moodley brand identity ; Co-founder of the graphic Stefan Unger April 13 th , 2013 25 min. design duo we make nice things (wmnt) ; Editor of frucht , a creative-style- magazine

- 152 - Managing director of the Mike Fuisz branding agency moodley April 15 th , 2013 35 min. brand identity

DI (FH) Johanna E-Mail Independent product designer April 23 rd , 2013 Prechtl Interview

- 153 -