The research is a part of an ongoing programme of research looking into the involvement of local actors in the presentation and representation of their cities. This links to a growing body of research on participatory place branding that looks at how multiple actors can work independently and collectively to share and enact the narratives they assign to the city. This covers the overlaps in the place branding, placemaking and policy activities, providing an in-depth exploration of actors’ participation in the place agenda. Actors included in this research were involved in marketing, planning, placemaking, policy making, economic development, environmental activism, community engagement, heritage protection, and the visitor economy. The funded fieldwork looked specifically at how these actors were able to collaborate on key areas of a medium-sized UK city’s place agenda. Linked to this, the research covers actors’ perceptions of the place and their interactions with each other.The way cities, regions and nations are branded is changing. Instead of communicating images with scripted logos, slogans and taglines, there are calls for branding to centre on the perceptions and activities of the people who live, work, and invest within its boundaries. Building on these changes, my PhD research showed how different groups perceived and prioritised their city and examined the extent these groups can participate in branding activities. A part of this fellowship involved supplementary data collection. I supplemented and strengthened my PhD findings by focusing on how multiple city actors work together to develop and coordinate branding strategies within another medium sized UK city. This covers overlaps in the place branding, placemaking and policy activities, providing an in-depth exploration of actors’ participation in the place agenda. The research data covers the following areas: - Multiple actors’ perceptions of the city and its identity - Stakeholder participation in the place agenda - Overlaps between place branding, placemaking and policy making - Engagement and collaboration across multiple city actors - Potential areas of agreement and disagreement across multiple city actors - Focus on sustainability as a positioning device for cities and city actors - Changes to cities (specifically their participatory place branding) during the Covid-19 pandemic Participants included in this research were involved in marketing, planning, placemaking, policy making, economic development, environmental activism, community engagement, heritage protection, and the visitor economy.
The data collected is qualitative, investigating key themes and topics pertinent to the place agenda. Interview data was collected from 28 participants involved in various activities that related directly to the place agenda for the case study site. All participants were involved in leadership positions within their organisation/group. Participants were identified using purposive sampling based on their existing involvement in the city’s place agenda. Interviews were semi-structured based around key themes/topics and opening prompts. Where a topic was frequently discussed by participants, it was included and expanded upon in subsequent interviews. The interviews consist of 24 individual interviews, and two interviews that contained two participants. Interviews lasted between 50 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed per dictum. Extended segments of interview data are retained in the anonymised data included within this project, removing all data that might identify the participant, their organisation/specific activity, and the city.
