PLACE BRANDING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: BARCELONA

Abstract

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Brundtland Report, 1987). In 1997, sustainable development became a fundamental objective for the UE. The Göteborg European Council (15-16 June 2001) approved the European Union strategy for sustainable development. In the context of globalization, nation-state/city began to be perceived as a different kind of merchandise – blending various concepts, such as nation or place branding. As a multinational corporation or a product, the nation-state or the city can be branded. A brand is based on image, reputation, and certain values.Now, we assist to a competition – increasingly visible – between cities/areas/regions to promote their image and, hence, in this context, to a new demand for specialists with vision. In the early 17th century, Miguel de Cervantes set a long episode of the second part of Don Quixotein Barcelona. In that book the city is evoked as a “repository of gentility”. In the 19th century, the time of industrialization, Barcelona was sometimes referred to as the “factory of Spain”. Today, Barcelona is a new model, a pioneer, a success story in industry, science and tourism: in 2014, became European Capital of Innovation and, in spring of 2015, at World Communication Forum in Davos – City of the Future. The aim of this research is to examine the Barcelona city brand construct and to establish its role in the sustainable development.