Re-imagining the city: branding migration-related diversity

Abstract

How do superdiverse cities re-imagine themselves in response to migration-related diversity? Based on a double case study on the branding strategies of two superdiverse Dutch cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, this paper shows that although diversity is part of the brand identity in both cities, it is not used prominently in urban planning or brand communications. Migration-related diversity is re-defined strategically (as ‘cosmopolitan’ and ‘international’) for two reasons: (1) to turn it into an asset that enhances the brand, and (2) to align the brand with existing policies and political discourses on migration and accommodate political pressures. City marketers have depoliticized place branding. Marketing logic pushed migration-related diversity to the background, because according to the city marketers diversity does not help a city to stand out. There is limited interaction between spatial planners and city marketers, and marketers use spatial planning selectively in place branding.