City-brand and cultural identity

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to put forward examples in recent history of ways of perceiving the city through branding. Our hypothesis is that essentialist definitions on what it means to build an “us” as a political collective and an “us in the city” can be found in these examples. This discussion renews the classic formulations on the projection of membership and citizenship.
We will aim to trace the way in which city brands have been characterized and questioned by European architecture and urbanism in the 80s and its new manifestations in Latin America in the context of the neoliberal policies of the 90s. We will also discuss the difference between “destination brand” and “brand management” and the universal political concepts implied in both.