Investigating the Role and Position of Urban Management in Urban Branding (Case Study: Isfahan City)

Urban branding is a new way of describing and implementing urban marketing. Just as city identification is done through image perception, the use of urban marketing largely depends on infrastructure, communications, and urban image management.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role and position of urban management in branding in Isfahan City.

This research was a survey-based document-field study, which used a researcher's questionnaire as the research tool in the survey section. The statistical population included all the citizens of Isfahan City and the statistical sample was equal to 384 people according to Cochran's calculation, but 414 questionnaires were distributed and finally collected in order to obtain more accurate information. Also, 50 questionnaires were distributed among the managers of Isfahan City. SPSS and Smart PLS software were used for measurement and analysis. Research Innovation: The managers and citizens’ points of view in response to the roles of municipalities, city council, chamber of commerce, and other bodies in the development of branding in Isfahan City were separately examined, which showed that the aforementioned institutions played a fundamental role in the development of the city branding. The managers believed that 77% percent of the urban management components had an impact on the development of urban branding. Also, the citizens said that the components of urban management had influenced 94% of the development of urban branding.

From the managers and citizens’ perspectives, the approvals of the municipality, city council, chamber of commerce, and other related bodies had a key role in the development of the city branding. The managers believed that 77% of the components of urban management had an impact on the development of urban branding. The citizens said that the urban management components had affected 94% of urban branding development.