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Geographies of Place Branding Researching Through Small and Medium-Sized Cities

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Geographies of Place Branding Researching Through Small and Medium-Sized Cities Meddelande från Kulturgeografiska institutionen Nr 148 Geographies of Place Branding Researching through small and medium-sized cities Geographies of Place Branding Researching through small and medium-sized cities Ida Andersson ©Ida Andersson, Stockholm University 2015 Cover illustration: ©Annika Söderberg ISSN 0585-3508 ISBN 978-91-7649-144-7 Printed in Sweden by Holmbergs, Malmö 2015 Distributor: Publit Abstract Place branding is commonly conceptualized with a focus on big cities, such as London, New York and Singapore, building from concepts and models from mainstream branding theory. In contrast to such conceptualizations, this thesis focuses on place branding in small and medium-sized cities. This thesis aims to study place branding from a geographical perspective. It starts with debates theoretical and empirical understandings of place branding; what it is and how it is affecting the places where it is introduced. The thesis develops and argues for a perspective of territoriality and rela- tionality to place branding discussing concepts, methods and empirical ap- proaches to carry out place branding research using geographical perspec- tives. Empirically, this thesis focuses on in-depth case studies of place branding in small and medium-sized cities in Sweden. By analyzing the development of place branding over the course of time, nuances and aspects of both terri- torial and relational origin emerge, situating place branding practices within a wider spatial contextualization. Four individual papers are presented, which taken together contribute to the aim of the thesis. Paper 1 introduces the place branding research field in geography and how it has developed; Paper 2 investigates the phenomena of flagship buildings located in small cities and towns; Paper 3 discusses the relationship between policy tourism and place branding; and Paper 4 analyzes how local environmental policies are affected by green place branding. The thesis demonstrates the complex and continuously interchangeable spatial structures and place contexts that create and re-produce the geogra- phies of place branding. Here, research models and methodological exam- ples are presented to illustrate how place branding can be studied from a geographical perspective and thus improve theoretical understandings of place branding. Contents 1. Introduction: The emergence of place branding ...................................... 13 What activities does place branding involve? ............................................................... 17 Why is place branding an important subject for research? ........................................... 18 Who is involved in place branding? .............................................................................. 19 What is the problem with place branding research today? ........................................... 20 2. Aim of thesis ............................................................................................ 24 Task 1: Introduce and discuss a conceptualization of place branding from a geographical perspective .............................................................................................. 24 Task 2: Apply and discuss a number of methods on how to research place branding from a geographical perspective .................................................................................. 24 Task 3: Highlight and address a gap in the research literature, by researching place branding through small and medium-sized cities ......................................................... 25 3. What is mainstream branding? ................................................................ 26 Introducing place branding research ............................................................................ 28 4. Introducing a geographical perspective to place branding ....................... 33 5. Conceptual considerations for the geographies of place branding .......... 37 The territoriality and relationality of place branding practices… ................................... 38 … and their mutational and mobilizing effects on place branding strategies ................ 39 6. Methodological considerations and sources ............................................ 42 Secondary data & sources ........................................................................................... 45 Research literature .................................................................................................. 45 Secondary sources ................................................................................................. 46 Primary data & sources ................................................................................................ 48 Interviews ................................................................................................................ 48 Participatory observations ....................................................................................... 49 7. Structure of thesis and summary of papers ............................................. 52 Paper I: Placing place branding: an analysis of an emerging research field in human geography ..................................................................................................................... 53 Paper II: Beyond “Guggenheiming”: From flagship buildings to flagship space in Sweden ......................................................................................................................... 54 Paper III: From the greenest city in Europe to green heptathlon: place branding and policy tourism in Växjö, Sweden (Co-authored with Laura James) .............................. 54 Paper IV: “Green cities” going greener? Local environmental policymaking and place branding in the “Greenest city in Europe” ..................................................................... 55 8. Concluding discussion ............................................................................. 57 Task 1: Introduce and discuss a conceptualization of place branding from a geographical perspective .............................................................................................. 57 Task 2: Apply and discuss a number of methods on how to research place branding from a geographical perspective .................................................................................. 58 Task 3: Highlight and address a gap in the research literature, by researching place branding through small and medium-sized cities ......................................................... 60 9. Svensk sammanfattning (summary in Swedish) ...................................... 62 10. List of references ................................................................................... 66 Appendix A. List of interviews and participatory observations ..................... 71 In-depth interviewees ................................................................................................... 71 Participatory observations ............................................................................................ 71 List of Papers Paper I Andersson, Ida (2014) Placing place branding: an analysis of an emerging research field in human geography. Danish Journal of Geography, 114.2, 143- 155. Paper II Andersson, Ida (2014) Beyond “Guggenheiming”: From flagship buildings to flagship space in Sweden. Norwegian Journal of Geography, 68.4, 228-237. Paper III Andersson, Ida & James, Laura. From the greenest city in Europe to green heptathlon: place branding and policy tourism in Växjö, Sweden, Manuscript submitted to International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR). Paper IV Andersson, Ida. “Green cities” going greener? Local environmental policymaking and place branding in the “Greenest city in Europe”, Manuscript submitted to European Planning Studies. 9 10 Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1. The development of place branding - a timeline ........................................ 28 Figure 2. Case study sites in Sweden ........................................................................ 44 Figure 3. Photo showing tourbus during technical visit in Växjö ............................. 51 Figure 4. Structure of thesis ....................................................................................... 53 Tables Table 1. An overview of place branding ................................................................... 22 Table 2. Overview of the sources used in separate papers ........................................ 45 11 12 Acknowledgements When thinking about doing a PhD you must come up with a good and interest- ing project idea that you can imagine yourself working on for at least four years. The idea behind this project is a lot older than four years and was born after a “fika” in Uppsala with Thomas Niedomysl, where we discussed an article about place branding pastry. Thank you Thomas for showing me this article and for all the discussions about place branding we have had over the years. Later, when I was admitted to the PhD program at Stockholm Universi- ty I was at the time working in the financial sector in Stockholm. I will always be grateful to my former boss Peter Berg who encouraged me to follow my dream of doing research and muster the courage to pursuit this project, even if it meant leaving the team for something completely new. A PhD Candidate is also in need of great support and a stimulating work environment. At the Department of Human Geography at Stockholm Universi- ty I have had the best support team ever and really nice colleagues.
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