Meaning and representation

• Rebranding of place:

  • Processes of change driven by policy choices 
  • Places are chosen specifically to be rebranded based on housing quality, employment opportunities, level of deprivation and access to services
  • Stratford was chosen to be the site of the major London regeneration project for the 2012 Olympics as it was a large underused area of brownfield land with a high level of poverty amongst the local population and poor access to public services

  
• Rebranding and regeneration:

  • policies that manipulate place identity are rebranding and regeneration
  • processes of gentrification and globalisation can be a by-product of these policies:
  • Rebranding policies that open up an area to free trade will bring the effects of globalisation into the area 
  • To rebrand the northeast following deindustrialisation the UK government attracted the investment of Japanese car company Nissan in Sunderland 
  • This example of TNC investment and increasing globalisation as a result of the rebranding policy has significantly affected the character of Sunderland known as ‘the Home of Nissan’ and employing 6000 people 
• Argument rebranding and regeneration:

  • rebranding cannot be successful without regeneration as building and development are needed to change the character of a place more than a media campaign.
• External agencies:

  • The manipulation of place identity and character involves many groups 
  • These groups range from those with the most power such as national or local government to those with less power such as community action groups 
  • Powerful agencies often have a motive or goal for the regeneration project and this can be interpreted and criticised through scrutiny of the placemaking process 
  • Investment into areas for regeneration can be criticised if the new area creates social or spatial exclusion of less dominant or marginalised groups
  • The agencies involved in changing place meaning are governments, councils, individuals, community groups, TNCs, national, international and global organisations
• The influence of external agencies:

  • The external agencies aim to adapt the place meaning and manipulate the sense of place 
  • They do this through advertising campaigns, improvements to the built environment, media coverage that is positive, tourist material and social media campaigns and accounts