City branding, flows and cross-boundary governance from perspectives of Neo-regionalism: A case study of Zhangjiang Yangtze River Delta Hi-tech City

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-9479.2024.05.20230315

Abstract

Abstract:

This article starts from the concept of Neo-regionalism with comparison between the Neo-liberalism and China's socialist marketized regime, holding that city branding is gradually regionalized from urban scale. By analyzing the politico-economic essence of city branding, which is the use of brands to guide spatial value differentiation, this article combines with the conceptual framework of city diplomacy from the West and articulates China's regionalized city branding as brand mobility. It takes the cross-border enclave industrial park (Zhangjiang Yangtze River Delta Hi-tech City) at the Shanghai Zhejiang provincial boundary as a case, adopting semi-structural interview and context analysis as prime methods, to analyze the process of utilizing the brand "Shanghai Zhangjiang" (specifically a special economic zone in China) in the industrial park, specifically achieving cross-boundary development through localized promotion, appropriation, and re-localization. Through empirical studies, this article draws the conclusion that China's city branding is influenced by top-down dictates, which is not only rooted in localized locus of space production but could be appropriated to elsewhere through brand mobility as well. Based on this, the article proposes that the regionalization of city branding in the Chinese context is different from the negotiation of local benefits in terms of "diplomatic relations", where brands are exposed by institutional mobility to achieve regional integration by brand of places. It concludes that regional branding integration demonstrates the outcome of urban political, economic, cultural and spatial interweaving relations based upon adequate flow of spaces.

Key words: city branding, Neo-regionalism, localized brands, mobility, Zhangjiang Yangtze River Delta Hi-tech City

摘要：

文章从新区域主义的概念与内涵出发，对比分析西方新自由主义与中国社会主义市场经济制度对城市发展策略的影响，认为城市营销由城市尺度逐步向区域尺度。通过对城市营销利用品牌引导空间价值分异的政治经济学解析，结合“城市外交”的理论框架，将中国城市营销的区域化转向解释为品牌流动。文章以沪浙边界的跨界飞地产业园（张江长三角科技城）为案例，运用半结构化访谈与文本分析等方法，集中分析产业园利用“上海张江”这一品牌的城市营销过程，回答产业园如何通过本地塑造、异地移植、再本地培植实现跨界发展的问题。结果表明：①中国背景下的品牌流动受到自上而下的宏观调控，不仅具有根植于城市的本地化特征，还具有可以异地移用的符号性与象征意义，品牌的再本地化是政策流动适配与本地独特资源禀赋的关键。②中国城市营销的区域化与西方新自由主义中城市以“外交关系”的方式开展利益谈判不同，制度流动是实现地方品牌区域一体化的关键。③地方品牌的区域一体化是城市政策、经济、文化、空间高度互嵌且充分流动的结果。

关键词: 城市营销, 新区域主义, 地方品牌, 流动, 张江长三角科技城

Yanlin ZHEN, Wenchao GUO, Zihang ZHOU. City branding, flows and cross-boundary governance from perspectives of Neo-regionalism: A case study of Zhangjiang Yangtze River Delta Hi-tech City[J]. World Regional Studies, 2024, 33(5): 150-162.

甄延临, 郭文超, 周子航. 新区域主义背景下的城市营销、品牌流动与跨界治理[J]. 世界地理研究, 2024, 33(5): 150-162.

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Machanism and processess of city branding

Fig. 2 Comparison between the Neoliberalism and the China’s Socialist Marketism

Fig. 3 A conceptual framework for city branding under the background of policy mobility

Tab. 1 Comparison of socioeomic status between Pinghu City and Jinshan District

行政区	人口/万人	面积（陆域）/km²	年GDP量/亿元	人均可支配收入（万元/人）
金山区	82.4	613	1 117.7	5.38
平湖市	68.8	537	746.6	4.66

Fig.4 The branding process of Pinghu and Fengjing industrial park with “Shanghai Zhangjiang”

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