Jasper Eshuis

Branding the City: The Democratic Legitimacy of a New Mode of Governance

Place branding has been used to influence ideas concerning communities and districts, especially in regeneration programmes. This article approaches branding as a new governance strategy for managing perceptions. Considering the popular criticism that branding is a form of spin that prevents the public from gaining a proper understanding of their government’s policies, this article focuses on the democratic legitimacy of branding in urban governance. The branding of two urban communities in the Netherlands is examined empirically in terms of input legitimacy, throughput legitimacy and output legitimacy. The research shows how the democratic legitimacy of branding varies in the two cases. In one case, branding largely excluded citizens, whereas in the other case there was limited citizen participation. The article indicates that, although branding can potentially be a participatory process in which the feelings and emotions of citizens are included, this potential is not always fully realised in practice.

The Influence of Stakeholder Involvement on The Effectiveness of Place Branding

Abstract The assumption in the governance literature is that stakeholder involvement enhances the chances of success of governance processes. Place branding has a strong governance character in that it involves many different actors and the government is one of the parties in the branding process. This article draws on survey data acquired from professionals involved in city marketing and branding in the Netherlands to analyse whether stakeholder involvement leads to a clearer brand concept and increased effectiveness of city brands in terms of attracting target groups. The analysis shows that involving stakeholders does make a difference and has positive effects on the clarity of the brand concept.

Place marketing and citizen participation: branding as strategy to address the emotional dimension of policy making?

Place marketing is increasingly used by local governments to enhance the image of cities and achieve policy goals related to economic and spatial development. Place marketing has become part of local and regional governance processes. Critics have argued that place marketing is often applied in top-down ways that exclude citizens. Drawing on survey data this article empirically confirms this critique. But the article shows with a case study that citizen involvement in place branding can be used to enhance the quality of the brand and include citizens’ emotions in governance processes. Points for practitioners The influence of citizens on place marketing is generally low. Nonetheless, when citizens are given influence the effects of place marketing on spatial plans and other policies increases, according to respondents of this study. Place branding can be carried out interactively with citizens, and then be applied to include citizens’ emotions in governance processes. This may be used to enrich and locally embed governance processes, and prevent citizens’ protest.

Branding in governance and public management

1. The Rise of Branding in Governance Processes 2. The Many Faces of Branding: Definitions, Functions, and Forms 3. Branding to Influence Perceptions about Policy Problems and Solutions 4. Branding to Activate, Motivate, and Bind Stakeholders in Governance Processes 5. Brands and the Media: Communicating With the Outside World 6. Branding as Governance Strategy 7. Risks and Limits of Branding 8. Brands and Governance: Towards Interactive Forms of Branding

The Interplay Between Trust and Control in Governance Processes A Conceptual and Empirical Investigation

In this article we study the reciprocal relationship, the coevolution, between different forms of trust and control. We conduct comparative case study of two spatial planning projects in The Netherlands. We find that trust and control are related through contingent causation, resulting in divergent paths of coevolution. Our research shows that not only - and often stated in other research - that informal control can contribute to trust, but also formal control can lead to increasing trust. The coevolution of trust and control depends on the specific initial situation in which the relationship between trust and control unfolds.

Knowledge governance: Complementing hierarchies, networks and markets?

Coordination between actions of individuals can be realised by a specific form of governance: hierarchical governance, network governance or market governance. In current policy processes with regard to climate change, spatial planning and water management, a fourth type of governance emerges which we call knowledge governance. This form of governance is aimed at developing new insights, competencies and ideas via public investments in knowledge development and dissemination, which contribute to the emergence of new pathways for collective action.

The Governance of Innovation in Dutch Regional Water Management: Organizing fit between organizational values and innovative concepts

Abstract This article addresses the difficulties encountered during innovation processes in regional water management, and how these difficulties are dealt with. We analyse the ‘fit’ or ‘misfit’ between innovative concepts and the dominant values in water management through three case studies. Our research confirms the importance of a fit between innovative concepts and organizational values, and additionally illuminates how a collaborative process of aligning the innovations and the organizational values helps to reduce misfits. The process of alignment involves developing supportive (temporary) arrangements which safeguard organizational values and enable the application of innovations.

Implementation arrangements for climate adaptation in the Netherlands: characteristics and underlying mechanisms of adaptive governance

Adaptation to climate change is a rapidly emerging policy domain. Over the last decade we have witnessed many attempts to enhance the climate robustness of agriculture, urban development, water systems, and nature to an increase in flood and drought risks due to a higher variability in rainfall patterns and sea level rise. In the vulnerable Dutch delta, regional authorities have developed adaptation measures that deal with flood risk, the availability of fresh water, subsidence, and salt water intrusion. In view of all the uncertainties that surround climate change, scientists emphasize that it should be possible to make changes when conditions change or insights evolve. The concept of adaptive governance has been introduced to facilitate the process of climate adaptation. Adaptive governance requires the availability of governance arrangements that facilitate adaptiveness by being flexible to enable adjustment. Although flexible arrangements for adaptation to climate change make sense from an adaptive governance perspective, from a more bureaucratic, political, and legal perspective, there might be good reasons to make arrangements as solid and robust as possible. In this article we answer the question to what extent the arrangements used to implement various adaptation measures are really adaptive and what mechanisms play a role in obstructing the accomplishment of adaptive arrangements. By analyzing and comparing nine adaptation cases, dealing with different climate issues, and the arrangements used to implement them from both a governance and a legal perspective, we are able to get more detailed insight into the main characteristics of the selected arrangements, their degree of adaptiveness, and the main hampering mechanisms for the creation or functioning of adaptive arrangements.

Understanding Social Cohesion Differences in Common Interest Housing Developments

Abstract The worldwide upsurge of common interest housing developments (CIDs) has stirred up debates regarding community development and social cohesion. Critics have argued that CIDs lack social cohesion because people regulate the community via rules and contracts rather than through social relationships and mutual contact. However, some research points at high levels of socialization and friendship in CIDs, facilitated by the homogeneity of the community in terms of socio-economic class and cultural background. This paper takes the uncertainty regarding social cohesion in CIDs as its starting point. On the basis of empirical research in three cases, this paper shows that social cohesion in CIDs varies, and that themes such as golfing or ecological sustainability play an important role in the development of social cohesion. The paper shows how a clear theme facilitates the development of shared symbols and rituals, and provides logical points of social encounter and interaction.

The differential effect of various stakeholder groups in place marketing

This article analyses whether involving various stakeholder groups in place marketing has effects on the content of place brands, and on how place marketing influences other policy fields, i.e. spatial planning and tourism/leisure policies. The research applies structural equation modelling to nationwide surveys in the Netherlands and Germany among professionals in place marketing (N = 444). The study shows that different stakeholder groups have a varied influence; involving residents and public managers increases the influence of place marketing on spatial planning policies, whereas involving businesses increases influence on tourism/leisure policies. Other studies have shown varying influence of stakeholder groups in cases, but not in quantitative studies. The research also addresses the mechanisms at play in Germany and the Netherlands, showing mainly commonalities.