The Case of Eskişehir a Thesis Submitted to the Graduate
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CITY BRANDING / IMAGE BUILDING AS A NEW PARADIGM: THE CASE OF ESKİŞEHİR A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHINAL UNIVERSITY BY EVRİM KOÇ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING MAY 2018 Approval of the thesis: CITY BRANDING / IMAGE BUILDING AS A NEW PARADIGM: THE CASE OF ESKİŞEHİR submitted by EVRİM KOÇ in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning Department, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Halil Kalıpçılar Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences _______________ Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok Head of Department, City and Regional Planning _______________ Prof. Dr. Ayda Eraydın Supervisor, City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _______________ Examining Committee Members: Prof. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _______________ Prof. Dr. Ayda Eraydın City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _______________ Prof. Dr. Ali Türel City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _______________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilge Armatlı Köroğlu City and Regional Planning Dept., Gazi University _______________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. F. Nihan Özdemir Sönmez Real Estate Dev. and Man. Dept., Ankara University _______________ Date: May 11, 2018 _______________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Evrim Koç Signature: iv ABSTRACT CITY BRANDING / IMAGE BUILDING AS A NEW PARADIGM: THE CASE OF ESKİŞEHİR Koç, Evrim PhD. Department of City and Regional Planning Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayda Eraydın May 2018, 394 pages In the last three decades cities have become the nodes of the global economy by enhancing their own competitive capacities; through improving their capabilities with respect to human capital, innovation, and creativity. They have struggled to become successful in competitive conditions as they have been following several strategies including urban branding, brand management and creating a new image. In Turkey, 2023 Tourism Vision identified 19 cities as candidates of cities with brands; therefore it introduced plans, projects and strategies related to these cities. City branding has become a popular discourse in Turkey, from very small sized towns to metropolitan cities, and almost every mayor has made a “brand city” declaration as they have used it as a propaganda item. This thesis attempts to investigate the process of the city branding efforts and its outcomes through a case study research on Eskişehir. Eskişehir is chosen as the case study area since it is a successful example of creating city brand/image in Turkey. The study introduced in this thesis concentrates on the question “How was Eskişehir v able to create a new city image/brand?” which aims to contribute to the existing literature and the policies and practice of the cities striving for city branding. The findings of the thesis emphasize four issues: First, Eskişehir has built its city branding strategy upon “livable city” through emphasizing “life-city-living” themes and projects, which is more truthful and genuine than the discourses on “being a global city”. Second, a “strong and successful management and leader image” is important in city branding of the Eskişehir case. Third, the findings indicate that it is possible to build a brand not only through international and national projects but also by local plans, projects and activity patterns. Last, contrary to the general understanding, a city branding policy can be successful even if it is focused on the national but not the global level. With respect to findings, the thesis underlines two issues, which may contribute to city branding policies and strategies: the first, the need for consideration of “urban life quality, quality of life, livability, human development” while designing competitive and city branding strategies; and the second defining a management based on collaborative work under a strong leadership in a successful city branding policy and practice. Keywords: City branding, image building, city image, city marketing, city planning vi ÖZ YENİ BİR PARADİGMA OLARAK KENT MARKALAŞMASI / İMAJ YARATMA: ESKİŞEHİR ÖRNEĞİ Koç, Evrim Doktora, Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ayda Eraydın Mayıs 2018, 394 sayfa Son otuz yılda şehirler, insan sermayesi, yenilikçilik ve yaratıcılık ile ilgili yeteneklerini geliştirmek yoluyla, kendi rekabet kapasitelerini arttırarak küresel ekonominin düğümleri haline geldiler. Kentsel markalaşma, marka yönetimi ve yeni bir imaj oluşturmayı kapsayan çeşitli stratejileri izleyerek rekabet koşullarında başarılı olmak için çaba sarf ettiler. Türkiye’de 2023 Turizm Vizyonu, marka kent adayı olarak 19 kent belirledi, böylece bu şehirlerle ilgili planlar, projeler ve stratejiler gündeme gelmiş oldu. Kent markalaşması Türkiye’de çok küçük ölçekli şehirlerden anakent şehirlere kadar yaygın bir söylem haline geldi ve neredeyse her belediye başkanı propaganda malzemesi olarak kullandığı “marka şehir” beyanlarında bulundu. Bu tez, kent markalaşma çabalarını ve sonuçlarını Eskişehir üzerine bir örnek olay incelemesi yoluyla araştırmaya çalışmaktadır. Türkiye’de şehir markası/imajı yaratma konusunda başarılı bir örnek olduğu için Eskişehir, örnek olay incelemesi için seçilmiştir. Bu tezde sunulan çalışma, “Eskişehir, nasıl oldu da yeni bir kent imajı/markası yaratılabildi?” sorusuna yoğunlaşarak, markalaşma için çaba gösteren vii kentlere yönelik mevcut yazın ve politikalar ile uygulamalara katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Tezin bulguları dört konu üzerinde durmaktadır: Birincisi, Eskişehir, “küresel bir kent olma” söylemlerinden daha gerçek ve özgün bir şekilde, “hayat-şehir-yaşamak” temalarına ve projelerine vurgu yaparak “yaşanabilir kent” üzerine kent markalaşma stratejisini inşa etmiştir. İkincisi, Eskişehir örneğindeki kent markalaşmasında bir “güçlü ve başarılı yönetim ve lider imajı” önemli yer tutmaktadır. Üçüncü olarak, bulgular sadece uluslararası ve ulusal projelerle değil, yerel planlar, projeler ve faaliyet biçimleri ile de bir marka oluşturmanın mümkün olduğunu göstermektedir. Son olarak, genel anlayışa aykırı olarak, bir kent markalama politikası, küresel düzeyde olmayıp, ulusal düzeyde olsa da başarılı olabilir. Bulgular ile ilgili olarak, tez, markalaşma politikalarına ve stratejilerine katkıda bulunabilecek iki konunun altını çizmektedir: Birincisi, rekabetçi ve marka şehir stratejileri tasarlanırken “kentsel yaşam kalitesi, yaşam kalitesi, yaşanabilirlik, insani gelişme”nin dikkate alınması ihtiyacı, ikincisi de başarılı bir kent markalaşma politikası ve uygulamasında güçlü bir liderlik altında işbirlikçi çalışmaya dayalı bir yönetimi tanımlamaktadır. Anahtar Sözcükler: Kent markalaşması, imaj yaratma, kent imajı, kentin pazarlanması, kent planlama viii To my family Hürel and Evren KOÇ & My parents and brother Feriştah, Mustafa and Özgür DOĞRU ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Ayda Eraydın for her constant support, guidance, encouragements and patience throughout the preparation of this thesis. It was a great honor to have her valuable contributions and sharing of her professional experiences during my long journey of PhD. I also would like to thank members of my doctoral steering committee Prof. Dr. Ali Türel and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilge Armatlı Köroğlu for their valuable comments and contributions in the committee. I also would like to thank to my examining committee Prof. Müge Akkar Ercan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tanyel Özelçi Eceral and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fahriye Nihan Özdemir Sönmez for their special support and guidance. Also, it is unforgettable that Prof. Dr. İlhan Tekeli did provide me great tolerance throughout his lectures during my pregnancy. I owe great thanks to Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Büyükerşen, who is local man, academician, a pragmatics, a leader and a lover of Eskişehir, for having the chance of getting information about the city of Eskişehir from the municipality. Special thanks to the Mayor of Tepebaşı Municipality, Ahmet Ataç, DDS for his supports and permissions without which this thesis could not be completed. The deputy Mayor of Tepebaşı Municipality Assist. Prof. Erkan Uçkan personally encouraged me a lot and supplied lots of support that I will never forget in my whole life. I would like to thank very much to my former Manager Meral Soyer in Tepebaşı Municipality for her friendly, encouraging supports and smiles that warm me anytime, who also will be in my mind with her behave on me. I also thank to my x colleagues in Planning Department of Tepebaşı Municipality and my former manager, Erol Bandırmalıoğlu in Bilecik Special Provincial Administration for his tolerance and support. I owe thanks to all institutions, their managers and staff that contribute to the this thesis, Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality, Eskişehir Tepebaşı Municipality, Tepebaşı Youth Center, Eskişehir Odunpazarı Municipality, Agency of Eskişehir 2013 Capital of Turkish World, ANKA Consulting Group, Yılmaz Büyükerşen Wax Sculpture Museum. I also owe thanks to all city planners, private sector employees and employers that contribute to this thesis; moreover, people living in Eskişehir, university students educating in Eskişehir, and visitors of