Place branding revisited in a user-generated era: the role of new digital platforms in shaping place identity.

My working hypothesis is that place branding has transmuted once again with the rapid acceleration of place-brand making through user-generated content (UGC)4 makers. This is all achieved through a plethora of digital media platforms. The questions arising include: do these new actors and platforms in place branding create and/or influence new growth agendas for cities? What role do they play in directing resources to certain infrastructure? And not others? Whose voices are included and whose may be excluded in these new place-branding moments? And, lastly, is the future of place-branding becoming and likely to become less about advertising and promotion and more about policy-making?