IPM Bulletin archive – October 2015

Rostock (Germany): New Market
Rostock (Germany): New Market

by Simon Quin

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This month’s Bulletin features two articles on place branding, the first calls on us to rethink the place brand whilst the second questions the place branding approach in US Rust Belt cities. The articles come as a new International Place Branding Association is launched. Also launched this month is the new Institute of Place Management Student Society. This aims to bring together students from many disciplines interested in the study of place. If you are currently a student then you will want to follow the link to the facebook group and you may want to share your thoughts with us via email (details below).

We now have more detail about the progamme for the Institute’s 2016 Study Tour to Berlin which includes an opportunity to meet with those responsible and see at first hand various forms of place management in the city. Whilst on the subject of Berlin, we have news about changing influences on travel choice in the city and in London which are both leading locations for trends in urban mobility. If Berlin or London are too far to go, the Institute can come to you, particularly if you are responsible for a high street or town centre in the UK (or elsewhere in Europe) and you are wanting to understand the opportunities for its future vitality and viability. Whilst many high streets in the UK are finding life tough, we have encouraging news about the health of high streets in India and we also have an interesting article about the importance of heritage to identity and place.

Our list of forthcoming events includes a conference on Intelligent City Mobility that is being held in London on 12th November at which you can earn CPD points. The organisers, Landor, are offering a special discount registration fee for IPM Members of just £75. We also have details of the Place Leaders Asia Pacific workshop in Parramatta, NSW, Australia which features a keynote presentation by the Chief Operating Officer at AMCV, an Institute Approved Partner in Belgium.

If you have any comments on anything in the Bulletin or about the Institute in general, please let us know by email.

Simon Quin – Director of Place Management

simon@placemanagement.org

 

News from the Institute

A new article in Environment & Planning A (2015 47: 1368-1382) by IPM Senior Fellow Mihalis Kavaratzis and IPM Director Ares Kalandides “Rethinking the place brand: the interactive formation of place brands and the role of participatory place branding” is currently available free to read at http://epn.sagepub.com/content/47/6/1368.short. According to the abstract, “…..The article starts with a very brief account of the place branding literature to provide the necessary background and goes on to identify what we see as a shortcoming in current understanding of the place brand: the dominant idea that brands are formed as sums of mental associations. The article attempts to take current understanding of place brands further by going beyond associations and adding a missing element: the interactions between those associations. We propose a rethinking of place brands based on two pillars: first we incorporate more geographical understanding into place branding and, second, we outline a process that allows place elements and place-based associations to combine and form the place brand…..”

 

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Institute of Place Management Student Society that supports Student Membership. The aim of student society is to provide useful information and resources for all students that are interested in the study of place. We are envisioning a networking hub, where students from a variety of disciplines (business, geography, tourism, architecture, planning, economics, sociology to name a few) will have a chance to contribute towards the development of place-related fields, such as place management, place branding, place marketing, tourism marketing, place making, etc. Our ambition is for this new networking space to become an exemplar of information regarding place-related studies for all students and a focal point for networking and collaborations between students and institutions around the globe. As a first step in building a multi-disciplinary research and business hub for students interested in places, you are welcome to join our facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1155630671133388/. For more information on how to take part in this, or if you want to share your thoughts and ideas about the society, send an email to Nikos Ntounis at n.ntounis@mmu.ac.uk.

 

The itinerary for the IPM 2016 Study Tour to Berlin has now been published. The three day tour, which is limited to 15 participants, will look at local examples of town centre management, neighbourhood management, place management for safe public spaces, urban renewal, tourism management, local production networks, and market management with a series of visits to relevant areas of the city. The tour will be hosted by IPM throughout and includes seminar and workshop sessions as well as opportunities to experience Berlin at night. The tour runs from 2nd-4th June 2016 and will earn you 1500 CPD points. For more information, including how to register your interest, see http://placemanagement.org/courses/study-trip-berlin-june-2016/.

 

Involved in Town Centre Management in the UK (or elsewhere in Europe)? Want to understand better what the likely future for your town centre is? The Institute has launched a new short programme that can you help you do that. Initially available exclusively in the UK but with potential for delivery across Europe, the programme examines what footfall data tells us about different types of town. It also explains the 201 factors that could contribute to the vitality and viability of your town centre but then focusses on the 25 most important factors. Designed as a process to engage your stakeholders through a workshop run in your town centre, the short programme will help you to identify what needs to be done your centre to promote its sustainability. It will help you understand the kind of town centre you are working in, and provide a framework to enable you to develop an effective strategy and action plan. To find out more or to enquire about the programme see http://placemanagement.org/courses/town-centre-vitality-programme/.

 

News from elsewhere

India’s High Streets are thriving according to a new report from JLL. Retail as a whole is growing in the country, with an expected compounded growth of 12% per annum and the high street remains the dominant sector for retail sales, despite a growth in out of town and edge of centre shopping malls. The report draws on surveys in 24 leading high streets around the country to identify what attracts customers and also why retailers still want to trade in them. Although optimistic about the future of the high street in India, the report notes the need to manage change and the need for high streets to move with the times. You can read more of the report findings and access the full report here http://placemanagement.org/news/high-streets-thrive-in-india/

Heritage can provide the Unique Selling Point in shaping a place according to a recently released report from the Royal Society of Arts and the UK Heritage Lottery Fund. The report identifies more than 100 ‘heritage indicators’ that are applicable in the UK, many of which will be transferable to other jurisdictions. It uses these indicators to draw up a Heritage Index which ranks local authority areas. It notes that many areas are not making full use of their heritage in developing a local identity and sense of place. Those areas that did score well on the Index correspond with areas in which residents report a higher sense of well-being. Some other expected associations, such as prosperity or geographical differences, were, however, not found to be established. Read more and access the Index here http://placemanagement.org/news/heritage,-identity-and-place-new-report/.

Berlin and London are cities ahead of the curve in relation to changing travel patterns says a new report from LSE Cities and InnoZ. Having surveyed 1000 people in each city on their transport choices and attitudes to travel, the report contains a wealth of information on emerging trends in urban mobility. Amongst changes in travel choice now apparent in the two cities is the growing influence of smart phones that will allow for greater flexibility in travel patterns. Much of the report will have relevance in other cities, including the six distinct mobility attitude groups that are identified in the report. As urban place managers struggle to match transport to customer needs, this report provides useful insight and you can find out more, and access the full report, at http://placemanagement.org/news/towards-new-urban-mobility-report-released/

“[m]any cities in the Rust Belt have fallen for that same trap of trying to market themselves as cultural hives and stages of stardom. But the end result is more often than not an inauthentic sunny-side-up attitude that is shallow at best.” says Jeremy Liu, Editor in Chief of SAMMPress, the online publication of the Students’ Association of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne. In a thoughtful piece which we have republished, Liu identifies challenges and success criteria in rebranding Rust Belt cities. You can read it on our news pages which also have a link to a story on the same subject that appeared in The Economist in July. http://placemanagement.org/news/a-perspective-on-rebranding-the-american-rust-belt/

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has produced an app that lets you experience running a town. The app includes real census data on every town in Australia and more than one hundred initiatives that you can choose to initiate in your town. It would appear that community reaction is key to whether you are a successful leader or one who, according to the app, is ‘run out of town’. If you want to read more and follow a link to download the free app you can do so here http://placemanagement.org/news/want-to-run-an-australian-town/.

The launch of the International Place Branding Association has been announced. The International Place Branding Association is a non-profit independent association of academics and professionals and other individuals interested in the principles and practices of brand development and brand management for places (cities, regions, nations and destinations). The Association’s mission is to enhance the international recognitions, visibility, and development of the place branding and place marketing disciplines. An inaugural conference is planned for London in November or December 2016. You can read more about the Association, its objectives, who it is for and who is involved at http://placebranding.org/.

Forthcoming events

London, England – 4th-5th November: City Nation Place Conference. The first City Nation Place Conference features speakers who will share their experience of devising and implementing place brand strategies and promote discussion of the common challenges faced by every place in competing for investment, tourism, trade and reputation. For more information on the conference sessions and speakers and links to how to register see http://placemanagement.org/events/city-nation-place-conference/

London, England – 12th November: Intelligent City Mobility Event. The Intelligent City Mobility event provides transport, urban design, intelligent mobility, city management, parking, smarter travel and automotive professionals with a forum in which to explore and discuss how integrated urban mobility is evolving. What are the possible futures for improved car-based urban mobility, and can they deliver real civic benefit? Can we liberate the vast spaces required to move and to park cars? How can city leadership positively shape future mobility for work, living and leisure? Should changes be market or policy driven? What does the roadmap for change look like, and who is making key decisions? The event is accredited for CPD by IPM and is offered at a significant discount of just £75 to IPM members. http://placemanagement.org/events/the-intelligent-city-mobility-event-2015/

 

Parramatta, NSW, Australia – 26th November: Place Leaders Asia Pacific Workshop. The workshop is specifically looking at place metrics. The keynote speaker is Claire Albaret, Chief Operating Officer at AMCV in Belgium who will be talking about Urban Lifestyle Points, the Lively Cities partnership and the Town Centre Management Europe Quality Mark. Claire led a delegation of French and Belgian place managers who visited IPM in September. Abstracts are being sought from local place managers. http://placemanagement.org/events/asia-pacific-place-leaders-workshop/

Call for Papers

Corfu, Greece – 18th-21st April 2016. You have until 30th November to submit a 1000 word abstract for the 3rd Corfu Symposium on Managing & Marketing Places. The symposium theme is ‘thinking and re-thinking about places.’ You can read more information about the event and the Call here http://placemanagement.org/events/3rd-corfu-symposium-on-managing-and-marketing-places/.

 


In memory of Salim Jiwa (1969-2015)

It is with great sadness we share the news that our friend Salim Jiwa died on the 26th September 2015. Salim played a very important role in the creation of the IPM and many of our longer serving members will no doubt remember him with great fondness. Salim was a stickler for detail but also a great presenter with a real passion for developing the potential and talent in others.


*By filtering using the category “IPM Bulletin” you can find an archive of past IPM bulletins.

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