European Regional Science Association
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European Regional Science Association
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The abstract for paper number 185:
Erik Braun, European Institute of Comparative Urban Research (Euricur)
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Should cities develop marketing strategies?
Increasingly, cities in the European Union behave in a logic of competition in a highly dynamic and complex environment. In such a competitive environment, marketing might be a useful instrument to improve the competitive position of cities. As recently as the early 1980s, only a very limited number of cities acknowledged that marketing could be a weapon for cities too. Nowadays, competition pushes a growing number of cities to adopt their own marketing policies. In this process cities 'invent' their own marketing strategies, discovering that the marketing of a city or region is not as straightforward as many people think. This paper deals with four questions: (1) Is there a case for the marketing of cities? (2) If so, what are the implications for cities that adopt marketing strategies? (3) What are the main features of the marketing practice in some of the major European cities? (4) Under what conditions does it make sense to develop city marketing strategies?
Unfortunately full paper has not been submitted.