Conference article

Melissa Aronczyk
Department of Culture and Communication, New York University, USA

Download article

Published in: The ESF-LiU Conference Cities and Media: Cultural Perspectives on Urban Identities in a Mediatized World Vadstena; Sweden; 25-29 October; 2

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 20:10, p. 111–120

Published: 2007-03-06

ISBN:

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

This paper seeks to identify the origins; methods and outcomes of initiatives by cities to create a “brand identity” through private/public sector partnerships. The interpenetration of government and private enterprise to create the image of a city is not new; what is new is the transformation of the role of business in the articulation of a city’s identity. Through a case study of the cities of Montreal and Toronto; this paper investigates the relationship between what the proponents and practitioners of place branding say it does and what it actually does in a conceptual and practical sense.

Abu-Laban; Yasmeen and Christina Gabriel. 2002. Selling Diversity: Immigration; Multiculturalism; Employment Equity and Globalization. Toronto: Broadview Press.

Anderson; Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities; rev. ed. London and New York: Verso.

Anholt; Simon. “The Anholt-GMI City Brands Index: How the World Sees the World’s Cities;” Journal of Place Branding; vol. 2 no. 1; January 2006: 18–31.

Aronczyk; Melissa. ”Brand It and They Will Come;” Toronto Star; 17 July 2005: D1.

City of Toronto. 2006. Toronto’s Racial Diversity. Toronto Facts. See http://www.toronto.ca/toronto_facts/diversity.htm (accessed January 14; 2007).

DiManno; Rosie. “Toronto Unlimited: Uninspired or Just Unimaginative?” Toronto Star; 29 June 2005: A2.

Germain; Annick and Damaris Rose. 2000. Montreal: The Quest for a Metropolis. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Goonewardena; Kanishka and Stefan Kipfer. “Spaces of Difference: Reflections from Toronto on Multiculturalism; Bourgeois Urbanism and the Possibility of Radical Urban Politics;” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research; vol. 29 no. 3; September 2005: 670–8.

Harvey; David. 2001. “The Art of Rent: Globalization and the Commodification of Culture.” In Spaces of Capital: Toward a Critical Geography. New York: Routledge; 394–411

Holston; James and Arjun Appadurai. 2003. “Cities and Citizenship.” In State/Space: A Reader; eds. Neil Brenner; Bob Jessop; Martin Jones and Gordon MacLeod. UK: Blackwell; 296-308.

Levine; Marc. 2003. “Tourism Infrastructure and Urban Redevelopment in Montreal.” In The Infrastructure of Play: Building the Tourist City; ed. Dennis R. Judd. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Levy; Sue-Ann. “Better Ways to Blow $4M: New Campaign “Brands” Us as Suckers;” Toronto Sun; 26 June 2005.

Taylor; Charles. 1994. “The Politics of Recognition.” In Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition; Princeton: Princeton University Press; 25–73.

——. 1993. Reconciling the Solitudes: Essays on Canadian Federalism and Nationalism Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Soja; Edward. 1989. Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory. London and New York: Verso.

Statistics Canada. 2002. 2001 Community Profiles (Toronto; Montreal). Released June 27; 2002. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE. See http://www12.statcan.ca/english/Profil01/CP01/Index.cfm?Lang=E (accessed January 14; 2007).

Tourism Toronto. 2005. “Brand Launch Toronto Unlimited: Q & A.” See http://torontounlimited.ca/ (accessed July 1; 2005).

“Tourisme Montreal Launches the Biggest Advertising Campaign Ever Conducted;” Tourisme Montreal Press Releases; 9 April 2002. See http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/AboutTM_Target?PressReleases/EN (accessed December 2004).

Ville de Montreal. 2005. 2005 Economic Report. ISBN 2-7647-0621-9.

Welsh; Jennifer. At Home in the World: Canada’s Global Vision for the 21st Century. Toronto; HarperCollins; 2004.