When discussing the image of the ci

When discussing the image of the city from city branding perspective, it should be noted firstly that
nowadays, many cities attempt to promote themselves through the aid of iconic artefacts.

From a general
point of view, city branding is mainly based on three key attributes, which are image, uniqueness and
authenticity. Nearly every city has city branding on its agenda in order to redevelop its image (Kavaratzis,
2007). Branding, mainly developed from marketing strategies, is more and more used for city marketing
and promotion, similar to products. Kotler even argues, that ‘places are products whose identities and
values must be designed and marketed’ as products (Kotler, et al., 1999). According to Ashworth one of
the objectives of city or place branding is to discover or create uniqueness, which makes the city
differentiable from others (Ashworth, 2009,p.9). The main aim in construction of brands for cities is the
articulation of the city in the globalized world. If a city claims to ‘work’ successful it needs economical
wealth and an attractive image. Thus, city branding has to be concerned with ‘how culture and history,
economic growth and social development, infrastructure and architecture, landscape and environment,
among other things, can be combined into a saleable identity that is acceptable to all people.’ (Zhang
,2009,p.248). As a holistic approach city branding serves as a promotion tool for creating a unique image