برندینگ شهری و هویت City Branding and Identity

1. Introduction In recent years cities are in search for new ways to promote themselves. Due to fast changes in technology and the shift from local to a globalized environment, cities are forced to compete with each other in order to be an attractive tourist destination, workplace, cultural rich place and much more (Kotler, 2002). Kavaratzis argues that the rising competition among cities might be seen as one of the effects of the globalization, which is visible in various forms and activity fields (Kavaratzis, 2005, p. 1). The contemporary city has to be up dated continuously. In that sense cities develop strategies to support, to `sell` and advertise them within the global market. Literature survey reveals that there are mainly three approaches for promoting cities: cultural mega events, restoration and promoting heritage and the construction of iconic buildings (Hankinson, 2006, p.240; Kavaratzis, 2005, p.1). Among these approaches, construction of iconic buildings has been extensively utilized by many cities in order to get attention and attraction. The main motive behind this attempt is to create an identifiable image. It should also be noted that the restless competition between cities is strongly related to the concept of Quality of Life (QOL), which can briefly be defined as: ‘Quality of Life is a feeling of well-being, fulfilment, or satisfaction on the part of residents or visitors to a place’ (Andrews, 2001, p.202). Existing studies (Bigne´ et al., 2001; Petrick; Chen et al.; Chi et al.) confirm a positive relationship between image and satisfaction of visitors/tourists. A strong and identifiable image would have a positive impact on the satisfaction of the visitors. Since iconic buildings have a great contribution to the identifiable image of a city or place (Jencks, 2005, p.185), it can be suggested that they can indirectly influence the feeling of well-being and satisfaction of residents and visitors, thus there is a relationship between the image of place and QOL. Accordingly, this paper aims to question the influence of iconic architecture through creating identifiable images on Quality of life. In order to justify the relationship between the image of the city and QOL, the paper firstly, puts forward very briefly the concepts of City Identity and Branding with an emphasis on the city image, which is limited to the contribution of iconic buildings. Secondly, the paper discusses the contribution of iconic buildings through their meaning in terms of the image of the city to QOL.