A REVIEW OF THE ESSENCE OF CITY BRANDING IN ENHANCING IMAGE AND IDENTITY OF A CITY

The future of cities is at the juncture of a new reality. This poses a domestic opportunity to relook and rediscover the image and identity of the city. Cities are often viewed in the international arena, hence the authentic local essence of city image and identity is often flattened, hidden, or ignored. Therefore, this paper aims to review existing literature on city branding in order to identify characteristics that will enhance city strategies. This research is conducted using content and thematic analysis based on the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases. Findings have identified criteria such as integrated- design, landmarks, signature architecture, city vision statement, culture and symbolic assets to be among the contributing factors. Based on the review, the domain of city branding consists of intangible and tangible city assets that must be further researched in the field. These findings shall contribute to the research in the context of cities in Malaysia.