Place Branding and Its Discontents: The Politics and Management of Neighborhood Governance Systems

Since the 1990s, urban planners in the United States have developed systems of neighborhood governance as a way to better involve citizens in decision making. Simultaneously, place branding emerged as an economic development strategy employed by local, municipal, and regional organizations. While often discussed as an elite-controlled game, little attention has been paid to the role of residents in branding their own communities. This study investigates the extent to which different neighborhood governance systems encourage neighborhood branding. Through qualitative analysis of thirty-five cities, this paper demonstrates that across systems, there is an ongoing tension between empowering residents and managing place branding.