Purpose – This paper serves two purposes. First, to identify the stages of the historical development of place marketing, because place marketing has developed over time through discrete phases, which differ in their sophistication as well as in their approaches and objectives. Secondly, to...

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to carry out a contemporary and concise “state‐of‐the‐art” review of the city branding research domain, in particular how scholars have approached this field of study, what aspects of city branding have been studied, what cities have been chosen, and...

Purpose – The branding of places has gained popularity among city officials in recent years. Unfortunately, place marketers often disregard the complexity of place brands, as do their counterparts in the academic discussion: the focus repeatedly falls on the simple explorative description of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw upon Johnson's “Circle of Culture” to develop a cultural approach for studying place marketing's internal audience. A research project on the small Italian Renaissance city of Urbino explores how a number of marketing events dedicated to the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss communicative problems and perspectives in the branding‐process of a metropolitan region. It pursues the question of how intended place politics and non‐intended socio‐spatial developments impact the process of place branding for...

Purpose – Informal settlements are consistent areas in Latin America which exhibit distinctive urban and social dynamics. However, despite their size and impact, these settlements have been traditionally overlooked in terms of the contribution that they make to the city and to any place...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of stakeholders in the creation, development and ultimately ownership of place brands. The paper contributes towards laying the foundations of a participatory view of place branding. It establishes an urgent need to rethink place...