Strategic Management of City Brands and Its Influence in Smart Cities

This current research aims to build and validate a city strategic management model which allows the development of medium-long-term city strategies. The empirical research design is based on mixed methods. Four exploratory interviews of mayors responsible of city marketing preceded the collection and analysis of 400 informants’ sample obtained from face-to-face questionnaire-based surveys. The research took place in four Portuguese cities located in the Region Center of Portugal. The qualitative research shows that politicians of cities don’t take into consideration neither the city brand nor the objectives of smart cities. For them the strategic management of cities is only 4 years last. The quantitative research shows that citizens are involved with their city although half of them are unknown to public marketing efforts. The city attributes which are positively valued by citizens are activity and innovation, whereas stiffness, “to be outdated,” and no dynamism are considered negatively. Finally, the results indicate that city brands are perceived differently by visitors and residents.