| Abstract |
This article explores the relationships among capital cities, symbolic places, and city branding, using Taiwan's Taipei City as the example. A city's image consists of manycomplicated dimensions, and symbolic places act as channels for marketing. This process simplifies these complex dimensions into symbols which enable residents, tourists and investors to brand the city. A capital city is usually the political, cultural and economic center of the country, and as such, it may contain many symbolic places whose images and functions were designed by the state to represent national identity. These places seem to be features of the capital city; however, an investigation of the literature reveals that at these places can also be associated with political manipulation and cultural hegemony of the state, both of which undermine the image of the city and suppress local identity. Therefore, when a capital city is developing its branding strategy, it must find a way to distinguish itself from the state while still maintaining its local identity. Taipei City and its symbolic places seem to reflect this proposition. Overall, this article intends to offer a fresh perspective on research on city branding. |
