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Co-production is a solution by which the government provides public services. Co-production theory is built upon Western experience and currently focuses on the types of co-production in different policy stages, the barriers and governance strategies for co-production. However, little attention is paid to how political background will influence the co-production process. To fill the gap, we analyzed a case of co-production that occurred in China, and we characterized the political background as consisting of three main political features: political mobility, central–local relations, and performance measurement. Based on an in-depth case study of a government project in a medium-sized Chinese city, the impact and the changes of political features affecting governmental projects in different co-production stages are analyzed and assessed. We find that political features play a critical role in the co-production of China’s large government projects and may separately and jointly affect co-production. Government performance measurement affects the co-design and co-implementation of projects. Political mobility and changes in local government and performance measurement also affect the co-implementation continuity of the project. Political focus affects the co-design of projects. Central-local relations influence the support from higher government and the actual practices of lower government in the co-implementation stage.
Wenting Ma; Rui Mu; Martin de Jong. How Do Political Features Influence the Co-Production of Government Projects? A Case Study of a Medium-Sized Chinese City. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7600 .
AMA StyleWenting Ma, Rui Mu, Martin de Jong. How Do Political Features Influence the Co-Production of Government Projects? A Case Study of a Medium-Sized Chinese City. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (14):7600.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWenting Ma; Rui Mu; Martin de Jong. 2021. "How Do Political Features Influence the Co-Production of Government Projects? A Case Study of a Medium-Sized Chinese City." Sustainability 13, no. 14: 7600.
City promotion, city marketing and city branding are all frequently mentioned and examined in the literature on urban governance. Based on the goals and characteristics of different city branding strategies, this study identifies a growing level of sophistication from city promotion via city marketing to city branding and proposes that the degree of urban development of cities is positively related to the use of branding strategies. This proposition is tested among 23 Chinese cities: 21 cities in Guangdong province and two in the Special Administrative Regions – Hong Kong and Macao. The results show a positive correlation between the use of city promotion, city marketing and city branding strategies and a city's level of urban development. Only the largest and wealthiest cities, and those with the strongest tertiary sector report on the use of policies which indicate city branding. The strength of the primary sector is significantly and negatively related to all three identified forms of branding strategy. Furthermore, significant positive statistical inter-relationships exist between the different branding strategies, which confirm the existence of complex relations and overlaps between them. Our findings suggest that local governments should align their city branding strategies with their development goals.
Wenting Ma; Martin de Jong; Thomas Hoppe; Mark de Bruijne. From city promotion via city marketing to city branding: Examining urban strategies in 23 Chinese cities. Cities 2021, 116, 103269 .
AMA StyleWenting Ma, Martin de Jong, Thomas Hoppe, Mark de Bruijne. From city promotion via city marketing to city branding: Examining urban strategies in 23 Chinese cities. Cities. 2021; 116 ():103269.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWenting Ma; Martin de Jong; Thomas Hoppe; Mark de Bruijne. 2021. "From city promotion via city marketing to city branding: Examining urban strategies in 23 Chinese cities." Cities 116, no. : 103269.
Among known studies of city branding by Chinese megacities to realise urban transformation, there is no explorative study of how smaller Chinese cities engage in city branding and attempt to trigger industrial transformation. In response, this article presents an in-depth case study of city branding processes in a medium-sized Chinese city. Roles, resources and interactions among the city's stakeholders are analysed during the brand creation and implementation stages in two different economic city branding projects. The stakeholder involvement mechanisms we identify confirm that city branding creation in China primarily follows political rather than business channels. Chinese local public authorities and more specifically key politicians, departments, and public enterprises are core stakeholders in branding creation. However, this leads to challenges in the branding implementation, since key public sector players tend to withdraw themselves when implementation begins, leaving previously uninvolved private (and public) players to implement the brands. The unsuccessful transformation contrasts with those observed in Chinese megacities, where involvement of powerful corporations and support from higher levels of government are both much higher. It appears that the imperative of broad stakeholder involvement to make city branding successful as we know it for Western cities may also apply in medium-sized Chinese cities.
Wenting Ma; Martin de Jong; Mark de Bruijne; Daan Schraven. Economic city branding and stakeholder involvement in China: Attempt of a medium-sized city to trigger industrial transformation. Cities 2020, 105, 102754 .
AMA StyleWenting Ma, Martin de Jong, Mark de Bruijne, Daan Schraven. Economic city branding and stakeholder involvement in China: Attempt of a medium-sized city to trigger industrial transformation. Cities. 2020; 105 ():102754.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWenting Ma; Martin de Jong; Mark de Bruijne; Daan Schraven. 2020. "Economic city branding and stakeholder involvement in China: Attempt of a medium-sized city to trigger industrial transformation." Cities 105, no. : 102754.
Place branding is seriously studied in various academic disciplines. Its impact on strategic development plays a vital role in processes of sustainable urban transformation. Place branding originated in tourism management and over time its research focus spilled over and evolved in environmental science, urban studies and public administration. Scholars and policy makers are currently faced with a myriad of concepts in place branding research, which show considerable overlap but should be carefully distinguished from each other. To increase our understanding of this body of research, this article observes a strong pattern of the concepts in use, in their references to location types (i.e., urban, city, destination, place) and broadcasting activities (branding, marketing, promotion). It builds on this observation by collecting studies from the Scopus database by location type and broadcasting activities (LT–BA) reference pairs and systematically analysing and reviewing these from 1980 to 2018. A total of 2665 articles and reviews were identified and analysed based on (1) occurrences per reference pair, (2) co-occurrences per reference pair, and (3) co-occurrences for each reference pair with other concepts. On that basis, the origin and evolution of the research field including multiple reference pairs in use is explored and described.
Wenting Ma; Daan Schraven; Mark De Bruijne; Martin De Jong; Haiyan Lu. Tracing the Origins of Place Branding Research: A Bibliometric Study of Concepts in Use (1980–2018). Sustainability 2019, 11, 2999 .
AMA StyleWenting Ma, Daan Schraven, Mark De Bruijne, Martin De Jong, Haiyan Lu. Tracing the Origins of Place Branding Research: A Bibliometric Study of Concepts in Use (1980–2018). Sustainability. 2019; 11 (11):2999.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWenting Ma; Daan Schraven; Mark De Bruijne; Martin De Jong; Haiyan Lu. 2019. "Tracing the Origins of Place Branding Research: A Bibliometric Study of Concepts in Use (1980–2018)." Sustainability 11, no. 11: 2999.