Abstract
ABSTRACTIn polycentric urban regions several distinct cities, none of which is dominant, cooperate and compete with each other to attract inhabitants and firms. In such settings city branding strategies do not solely affect one city, but the entire region. We examined how city branding in the face of ecological modernization, that is, delivering higher added economic value, while lowering environmental impacts, is playing out in the Dutch Randstad and the German Rhine-Ruhr. Our findings show that regional identity formation occurs at the sub-polycentric urban region level, coinciding more with (historical) economic profiles than with planning imaginaries. The Dutch cities profile themselves more along the lines of ecological modernization than their German counterparts. Differences between subregions within each polycentric urban region are also noticeable, where more industrialized regions, such as the Ruhr or southern Randstad focus on ‘green’, ‘liveable’ and ‘knowledge-oriented’, while cities with stronger knowledge-intensive sectors portray themselves as ‘smart’ or ‘sustainable’. Cities generally substantiate their profiles through projects, but a significant gap persists between reality and aspirations for improved environmental conditions. This is especially true for the Dutch cities, where many claims, but little visible action can be observed.
Highlights
For a sustainable city we need to anticipate climate change
Amsterdam and Utrecht market their strong economic profiles. This pattern is less evident for the cities situated in the southern part of the Randstad, where Rotterdam, The Hague and Dordrecht do not respond to such themes very clearly
We have studied how these co-opetitive relations play out in two of Europe’s best known polycentric urban regions, the Randstad and Rhine-Ruhr, in the face of large-scale industrial restructuring towards economic functions that generate more added value, while being a lesser burden on the physical environment
Summary
For a sustainable city we need to anticipate climate change. We make the air, soil and water cleaner, we make the city greener, more robust, quieter and more energy efficient; we optimize the use of scarce land and we switch to sustainable energy and water resources. (Amsterdam, 2011). Energy-efficiency measures, climate-protecting energy generation and eco-friendly mobility will be developed in a joint effort of politics, administration, businesses, associations and citizens (IC Ruhr, 2014) These examples are evidence of the vital role attributed to cities in reconciling economic growth and environmental protection (Bulkeley & Betsill, 2005; Satterthwaite, 2010). There is an interesting balance between, on the one side, developing a joint image to the outside world of a coherent, spatial entity of which all the cities are part, while simultaneously, cities feel the need to profile themselves relative to their neighbouring cities – after all, being part of a network allows for specialization This first element essentially requires cooperation, while the second element captures a competition aspect.
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