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Towards Credible City Branding Practices: How Do Iran’s Largest Cities Face Ecological Modernization?

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  • Negar Noori

    (Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
    Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Martin De Jong

    (Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
    Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
    School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

Abstract

City branding is not only increasingly practiced in cities in established economies, but also among municipal governments in countries, until quite recently, rather closed off from the outside world. One country with a strong drive to engage in urban (re)development in the post-oil era through enhancing its ‘ecological modernization’ is Iran. Megacities in Iran have all begun to venture into making profiles of what they think they are or would like to be. However, some of the adopted city branding strategies lack sophistication. In this article, the authors examine what indicators can be used for evaluating the credibility of city brands and apply these to Iran’s 15 megacities. After offering brief descriptions of the generic features of each of these cities, they map their use of city brand identities and popular city labels related to ecological modernization and analyze the credibility of their city branding practices. Based on their findings, the authors distinguish five types of cities and explain what makes some types more credible in their use of brands than others. Generally speaking, compared to cities in other nations, Iranian cities pay special attention to historical, natural, cultural, and religious aspects.

Suggested Citation

  • Negar Noori & Martin De Jong, 2018. "Towards Credible City Branding Practices: How Do Iran’s Largest Cities Face Ecological Modernization?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1354-:d:143498
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Simon Goess & Martin de Jong & Evert Meijers, 2016. "City branding in polycentric urban regions: identification, profiling and transformation in the Randstad and Rhine-Ruhr," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(11), pages 2036-2056, November.
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    6. Meiling Han & Martin De Jong & Zhuqing Cui & Limin Xu & Haiyan Lu & Baiqing Sun, 2018. "City Branding in China’s Northeastern Region: How Do Cities Reposition Themselves When Facing Industrial Decline and Ecological Modernization?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, January.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Martin De Jong & Thomas Hoppe & Negar Noori, 2019. "City Branding, Sustainable Urban Development and the Rentier State. How Do Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai Present Themselves in the Age of Post Oil and Global Warming?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-26, April.

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