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The study aims to evaluate the relationship among architectural identity, physical identity and neighborhood attachment in a residential neighborhood in the core of Sanandaj, Iran.

This quantitative study conducted a survey of 208 residents in a historic neighborhood. The study hypothesized the mediating role of physical identity on the relationship between architectural identity and neighborhood attachment. Structural equation modeling using analysis of a moment structures (AMOS) software was used to test the research hypotheses.

Research findings show the reliability and validity of the proposed model. The results indicate a significant relationship between architectural and physical identity and a significant direct relationship between physical identity and neighborhood attachment. However, no significant direct relationship is found between architectural identity and neighborhood attachment, and only a significant indirect effect is found through physical identity. Therefore, architectural identity elements contribute to increasing physical identity and subsequently attach to the neighborhood.

Given the necessity for revitalizing the neighborhoods in the historical core of the cities to prevent the migration from old neighborhoods and the destruction of the valuable fabrics, establishing emotional relationships between residents and the place and improving interactions among residents is required. The mental values of residents change over time. Although the identification and use of identity elements in residential buildings is a significant way to revitalize the historic residential fabrics, only a few studies have experimentally assessed the impact of architectural identity elements in the creation of physical identity on the residents’ attachment to the historic neighborhood.

One major challenge for urban planners and policymakers is how to strengthen and establish connections between humans and the environment. Evidence suggests that the physical characteristics of the environment enhance both place identity and user satisfaction. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of place identity in the relationship between place quality and user satisfaction in two waterfronts in Penang, Malaysia. However, only few studies have examined the impact of place quality on user satisfaction in waterfronts as natural outdoor recreation spaces.

A sample of 300 users was analysed via structural equation modelling, and results show that place quality is a second-order construct with three main dimensions.

These results support the theoretical findings in the literature that associate high place quality and place identity with user satisfaction. These results also support the mediating role of place identity in the relationship between place quality and satisfaction and can help policymakers create inclusive and attractive waterfronts that catalyse place identity and user satisfaction.

Place quality is an essential need for urban life with significant and extensive effects on the lives of residents nowadays. Organising physical activities can help attract more users to waterfronts and consequently increase their level of satisfaction. Local authorities, non-governmental organisations and local communities should also help in monitoring and maintaining the waterfronts.

This paper aims to explore how place identity can be expressed in residents’ place image descriptions, addressing differences and similarities in place identity expressions between residents’ descriptions of the image of their place and the image of the place as described to others.

In-depth interviews were conducted with residents of a Swedish city. Place image descriptions were analyzed through thematic analysis.

Different types of identity perspectives manifest in the place image descriptions of residents. Respondents’ associations reflect place, person and social group identity perspectives, including their own perspective as residents, but also as visitors, or a combination of both. Priming is needed when gathering place image perceptions, to establish which underlying identity perspective is expressed.

This study offers a Nordic perspective on the organic communication of place image. The scope and qualitative nature of this study is a limitation to its generalizability but also suggests a rich ground for future cross-cultural studies on the topic.

Results point to the importance of accurately formulating questions to catch stakeholders’ place image. Insights are offered into how stakeholders communicate Nordic place image perceptions when engaging in communication about a place and into the effects of identity on organic place brand communication.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to explore how key stakeholders’ lenses to interpret a place brand are activated in the communication of place image, and how this influences their descriptions of the place.

This paper aims to introduce the concept of biomorphism (i.e. indirect experience of nature) in servicescape designs and validates its impact on consumer responses. Using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, this study explores the relationship between biomorphic servicescape designs and the servicescape preference. Further, it explains how biomorphic designs can help users to get better connected with the servicescapes by introducing the mediating role of attention restoration and place identity (emotional and cognitive), as explained by attention restoration theory.

Two empirical studies were carried out to test the hypothesised relationships: an exploratory pre-experimental design with one-shot treatment using 200 images as stimuli and 3,680 responses; and a 3 × 2 factorial design with three-dimensional images with about 654 responses for three service contexts chosen a priori: fashion retail, restaurant and hospital lobby.

This study conceptualises the role of biomorphism – elements that mimic natural forms – in servicescape designs and establishes that, akin to natural elements, the indirect experience of nature in servicescapes also has a positive influence on attention restoration, perceived place identity and servicescape preference of the consumers. This implies that the effects similar to that of a biophilic servicescape can be achieved through servicescape elements that mimic natural forms.

Extending the idea of biophilia, this research adopts the concept of biomorphism from architecture and environmental psychology domains and introduces biomorphic servicescape designs, which could be more practical at times compared to biophilic servicescapes. It establishes the influences of biomorphic servicescape designs on consumer preferences. Grounded in the S-O-R model, it further explains this relationship through mediating effects of attention restoration and place identity. Being new to marketing and management domains, this research may trigger a series of research studies on biomorphic service environment designs, with desirable implications for services marketing and services operations functions.

Environmental and functional situations of neighbourhoods can play a significant role in maintaining neighbourhoods’ socio-economic activities and residents’ place attachment. This study aims to examine the relationship between architectural identity components (i.e. symbol, ornament and old pattern) and place attachment in Aghazaman neighbourhood as a well-known historic neighbourhood in Sanandaj, Iran.

The study is quantitative in nature and a questionnaire survey was conducted on a sample of 300 respondents to assess the relationships between the architectural identity components and place attachment.

The findings indicate a significant and positive relationship between architectural identity and place attachment, indicating that higher architectural identity is associated with high perceptions of place attachment amongst residents. The results further indicate that the most influencing factor in shaping architectural identity is old pattern, followed by ornaments and symbols.

As place attachment is a strong incentive to maintain social interactions in neighbourhoods and to create a sense of attachment towards the residential environment, attention must be paid to the relationships amongst people, place, meaning and identity.

The architectural elements such as motifs and columns give identity to the image of historic neighbourhoods. The use of architectural identity components can help in decision making of planners and practitioners of urban neighbourhoods. The study was designed to develop a guideline so that future developments in Iran could be monitored to sustain strong neighbourhood attachment.

This paper aims to understand the dialectical relationship between place-making and identity formation of factory women in a free trade zone (FTZ) in the Global South.

Inspired by Judith Butler’s notions of performative acts and performativity, the paper uses poststructuralist discourse analysis to analyze data – oral and written texts – generated through a fieldwork study conducted in an FTZ in Sri Lanka.

Performative acts and the performativity of the occupants in the FTZ demarcate the boundary of the zone and articulate the identities of its occupants. Furthermore, the study shows that, in this process, such performativity and performative acts function as a form of “glue” to amalgamate the places of the zone space as kalape, a complex socio-geographical landscape in flux.

This study provides a new insight into the relationships between discursive-performative acts, place-making and identity formation of (factory) women in the neoliberalized (zone) space(s) of the Global South.

By articulating the FTZ as a (neoliberalized) space in a perpetual present, the study provides new insight into the relationships between performative acts, place-making and identity formation (of factory women) in the zone space.

The purpose of this paper is to use user-generated content (UGC) on social media platforms to infer the possible place brand identities of two famous metropolitan areas in Bangkok, Thailand, namely, Khaosan Road and Yaowarat (Bangkok’s Chinatown), both of which are famous for their street vendors and nightlife. These two places are interesting study sites because of recent identity conflicts among their stakeholders. The method developed in this research can help other places to better understand place brand identities and, as such, effectively plan for and manage those places.

The author used content analysis to study 782 user-generated images on Flickr and 9,633 user-generated textual reviews of Khaosan Road and Yaowarat from TripAdvisor and Google Maps’ Local Guide. MAXQDA was used to code all the images. User-generated textual reviews were studied using Leximancer. The author also introduced a positivity of concept analysis to identify positive and negative components of place brand identity.

The author developed a place brand identity framework that includes three pillars, namely, place physics, place practices and place personality. Content analysis of the images generated 105 codes and a count of the frequency of the codes that represent place brand identity. Content analysis of textual reviews created the concepts in the three pillars and identified the positive and negative concepts for both places. The results of both image and text analyses showed that street food vending is one of the most salient components of place brand identity for both Khaosan Road and Yaowarat.

The author suggested several place branding strategies for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration such as turning Khaosan Road into a music scene for both visitors and locals, controlling excessive and aggressive commercialism, sponsoring the production of creative and authentic content, initiating a compelling online campaign that focusses on the items sold in Yaowarat, hosting a spotlight event such as a seafood festival and improving hygiene and walkability.

Both the advancement of digital technologies and the complexity of stakeholders create a need for empirical studies on place branding involving the participation of the widest possible range of stakeholders and studies on the influence of social media. This research is the first to use both image and text analyses to study place brand identity from UGC. The use of both analyses allows the two methods to complement one another while mitigating the weaknesses of each.

Each place possesses characteristics that confer on it a sense of place and identity through the meanings and values that they provide. The role of the physical built environment in place and identity development has not received adequate attention in built environment literature. This paper attempts to identify the unique and exceptional characteristics of places which create a unique environment and make a continuing contribution to the overall sense of the place. A preliminary survey was conducted in Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB), a small town in the northern part of the Malaysian state of Selangor; to examine the characteristics of the place that influence and contribute to the identity of the town. The survey results demonstrate that the cultural heritage of the physical built environment acts as an important trigger for the town’s identity. While it is undeniable that cultural heritage is indeed greatly the product of non-visual sources; subjective meanings, experiences, beliefs, ideology and past history of the place, this paper highlights the significance of the physical built environment in influencing the very individuality of the place.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion about how to develop a common identity of local stakeholders of places (e.g. politicians, local companies, residents). Such a common identity is regarded as an essential aspect to market a place consistently to external target groups (e.g. tourists, companies, qualified workers, students).

The paper follows a conceptual approach by transferring semiotic (symbolism) and sociological concepts (symbolic interactionism) to the concept of place branding. Moreover, a practical example of how to identify potential place symbols of cities is presented within the case study of the German town of Bremen.

Symbols are identified to be of special importance for the development of group identity of local stakeholders of places. Moreover, symbols are presented as essential aspects of a feeling of belonging to a place (place commitment).

As semiotic theory has not yet been transferred to the context of place branding this paper is opening up a new subject and needs to be understood as a first approach to constitute a theoretical framework. An empirical analyses needs to be carried out in order to proof the theories in the place branding context.

The paper explains that symbols can be established by the arrangement of public discourses like, e.g. competitions for place logos, place mascots or place songs. Moreover, it is pointed out, how already established place symbols which are not yet part of branding strategies can be identified in order to strengthen place identity.

Following the semiotic concept of symbolism the paper explains a high participation of residents as a necessity to establish and negotiate the meaning of symbols in order to strengthen place identity.

Because of being the first paper putting the semiotic theory of symbolism in the focus of the interdisciplinary discussion of branding the originality of the paper can be regarded as high.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, it is to contribute to a sound conceptualization of the notion of place identity in the context of geographical spatial approaches; on the other, it is to show the implications this has in place branding research.

First, the paper draws from place branding literature to point out the lack of a conceptualization of place identity, second, it presents the case study of Prenzlauer Berg to show how place identity is constituted. Finally, these findings are linked to literature about the constitution of space and place.

The concept of spatial identity suffers under the anthropomorphism of the term identity. Only in a sound conceptual framework and through a method mix it is possible to understand how the specificity of space is constituted.

The case study that is the base of this conceptual paper is a neighbourhood. There is a need to further discuss the issue of scale, i.e. whether the same rules apply for cities, regions or nations.

Place branding/marketing is often based on a fuzzy notion of place identity. The above non‐essentialist approach of this identity deeply questions both the legitimacy and the efficiency of any place branding strategy. It thus asks for more sophisticated analytical methods by policy makers and consultants alike.

Conceptualization of spatial identity is a rather vague concept and, though it is often used as a point of departure for several issues, it is usually taken for granted. This paper offers a new systematic approach to the disambiguation of the concept.