“A great place to live”: branding Buenos Aires as an attractive city
Keywords:
Buenos Aires, branding, creative class, global city, urban entrepreneurshipAbstract
The literature on global cities that stands in the tradition of the ‘Globalization and World Cities’ research network neglects the attraction of places for the global knowledge elite and transnational companies. To better understand this phenomenon, the article adopts a ‘place branding’ perspective. Three components of branding global cities are identified: a liveable environment with an inclusive society, events/mega-events, as well as iconic architecture and real-estate projects.Against the backdrop of academic literature, documents published by the city of Buenos Aires and information obtained from the websites of the ministriesof the cityand the organisation InvestBA, the branding strategies of Buenos Aires are analysed. It is shown that Argentina’s capital sees itself as ‘a great place to live’. It presents itself as creative and innovative, as well as equitable and inclusive. Several measures give substance to this image, in particular the rehabilitation of key districts such as Puerto Madero. The extentsof bicycle lanes and the improvement of public transport are other important initiatives. Cultural activities are used by the government of the city as a tool to recover disadvantaged neighbourhoodsand boost the local economy, among other measures through creative poles. The promotion of the attractiveness of Buenos Aires rests on events and mega-events.In the conclusion, pitfalls of branding are addressed, especially the social imbalance that apparently characterises corresponding initiatives in Buenos Aires. Instead of rejecting branding, it is proposed that future academic contributions would be most useful if they told us how to guarantee that branding, in combination with other policies, generates benefits for all citizens, not just for a few who are already privileged.Downloads
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