Coming back to city branding ideas, it would be interesting recovering the book Branding New York: How a City in Crisis Was Sold to the World by Miriam Greenberg.
New York’s troubles in the 1970s were severe even for the time, according to the book:
Getting off a Greyhound at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a visitor might find a brochure pressed into their hand with a picture of a death’s head and the words, “Welcome to Fear City”. The brochures, which warned people to stay off the subway and to avoid going out after dark, were a protest by city workers angry about fiscal austerity measures.
Getting off a Greyhound at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a visitor might find a brochure pressed into their hand with a picture of a death’s head and the words, “Welcome to Fear City”. The brochures, which warned people to stay off the subway and to avoid going out after dark, were a protest by city workers angry about fiscal austerity measures.
Well, nowadays ten billion “I HEART NY” shopping bags later, the city’s branding push continues healthy.
But there's more. The trick is a coordinated, centralized city branding sprawling every area of the city and its governance, to revalue it.
But there's more. The trick is a coordinated, centralized city branding sprawling every area of the city and its governance, to revalue it.
What good it does for a city to shout about how wonderful it is or the cool new shop in the privileged neighborhood, when anyone can see that is a place where something has gone terribly awry: discrimination, segregation, disinvestment, poverty, corruption, gentrification, sprawl, etc.
The secret key of the city branding is the people -even the smart and talented ones- that do not want to live in your city and, acting in their own best interest, may be moving away every day.
And the winner question is: Do people want to live in your city?
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