Att bygga för att synas - city branding i stadsplaneringen
Spectacular buildings and categorized districts are becoming more common elements in cities. In many cases, they are the result of city branding, which means choosing a city image and dealing with it like a brand to profile and compete against other cities. This essay study what impact on and roll in urban planning the trend might have. The first part relies on literary studies and describes what has been written about city branding. The globalization, the experience economy, urban management, urbanization and the theory of the creative class are pointed out as driving forces of the popularity and the spread of city branding. To create a brand for a city is difficult and complex, as a city compared to a product is harder to affect. Some basic guidelines for the creation of a successful profile can although be set up, where among the most important to begin with is what is unique for the cur-rent city and its inhabitants.
To get a more deep insight a number of example where studied to represent different expressions of city branding in the built environ-ment. The Guggenheim museum in Bilbao is one solitary remarkable building and Arabiastranden is an urban district in Helsinki built for creativity. A tower building in Höganäs shows that even small cities are branded and a great project in urban planning in Helsingborg will found a new, attractive district in the old industrial harbor area. The example Helsingborg makes a big part of the essay and it appeared that the process in the city with a great amount of citizen influence was interesting. The effects of city branding can be both positive and negative. In best cases it generates a desired economic lift and a raised feeling of coherence. Large cost and global uniformity are effects that speak against the ways city branding are used in city planning today.