Place Branding and Brand Management for Sustainable Creative Cities
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 845
Special Issue Editors
Interests: place branding; public diplomacy; public branding; cultural landscape; humanistic geography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: place branding; sport diplomacy; sport place branding; political communication
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cities are poised to become the new centers of global power. The challenges faced by urban areas compel us to rethink how they have historically been organized and planned, as well as how they participate in a global geopolitical landscape where power relations among various actors are being redefined. However, in a global and local context, which some authors have termed ‘glocal’, urban areas will have to compete with rural territories that also want to participate in these networks of interests. Mediating how megalopolis and rural territories will sustainably coexist and compete in the future will be a big societal challenge.
Within the framework of these new asymmetric power relations, territories that enjoy better positioning and reputation will have a greater capacity to attract investments, tourism, and, most importantly, talent.
Place branding is a field of study that continues to grow, characterized by its transdisciplinary approach. Therefore, place branding must be examined through our understanding of the existing relationships among various stakeholders involved in the social, political, and economic life of a territory.
This Special Issue aims to collect original research in the area of place branding and brand management that will provide a comprehensive understanding of the complexities faced by cities in the current twenty-first century, and how their territorial brands should function as tools to lead and address their strategic challenges. Submissions on the following topics are welcome:
- Place branding in the context of multidisciplinary research in Social Sciences.
- Inclusive place branding.
- Public diplomacy and place branding: a necessary merge of disciplines?
- Place branding, sustainable development, and spatial planning.
- Cities, reputation, and soft power in a global context.
- City branding and rural branding.
- Smart cities in a ‘glocal’ context.
- Place branding and public diplomacy for non-state actors.
- Brand management for territories.
- Sport place branding and sports diplomacy in a ‘glocal’ context.
Dr. Jordi de San Eugenio Vela
Dr. Xavier Ginesta Portet
Dr. Nahuel Iván Faedo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- place branding
- brand management
- public diplomacy
- sustainable cities
- urban planning
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