Multiple place attachment – a friend or a foe in place branding?
Name of applicant
Barbora Gulisova
Title
Postdoctoral Fellow
Institution
University of Girona
Amount
DKK 900,000
Year
2023
Type of grant
Internationalisation Fellowships
What?
Many places use place branding to attract residents and tourists. Residents vary from those who were born and have lived in the same place all their life, and translocal ones - with connection to multiple places. The project explores the engagement with branding campaign of 'translocal' residents – those who have bonds with multiple locations, and contrasts it to the responses of locals.
Why?
Success of place branding often rests on residents' support. But how do residents, especially those who feel connected to multiple places, react to such branding campaigns? Place attachment has been suggested as a driver of engagement with place branding campaigns, but past work only looked at locals with a single place attachment, not acknowledging the role multiple place attachment can play.
How?
The project uses qualitative methodology - photos and interviews - for a case study of Girona, Spain. Different groups of local and translocal residents will be asked to provide pictures of places they feel attached to. Followingly, the pictures will be used to ask for their stories of these places - about their attachment to them, and their reactions to place branding campaigns of Girona.