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ataollah zarafshan
Abstract
In recent years, city branding has emerged as a strategic approach in urban management, serving as an effective tool to enhance the mental image of cities, attract tourism and investment, and improve the quality of urban life. This study aims to formulate urban management strategies for branding Maragheh—an ...
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In recent years, city branding has emerged as a strategic approach in urban management, serving as an effective tool to enhance the mental image of cities, attract tourism and investment, and improve the quality of urban life. This study aims to formulate urban management strategies for branding Maragheh—an Iranian city with a unique dual identity: an ecological "garden city" and a historical-scientific center known as the "Capital of Astronomy in Iran." Adopting a qualitative methodology, the research is based on semi-structured interviews with local experts and content analysis using the SWOT framework. Findings reveal that despite Maragheh’s rich natural, agricultural, and scientific assets, challenges such as the absence of a clear brand identity, weak tourism infrastructure, and institutional fragmentation hinder its branding potential. Consequently, four strategic categories (SO, WO, ST, WT) were developed, culminating in the proposal of a hybrid brand: “Maragheh, Garden City of Stars.” The study also suggests practical measures such as restoring the historical observatory, organizing brand-oriented festivals, designing symbolic urban spaces, and fostering citizen participation to internalize the brand. This conceptual model, grounded in local identity and residents’ lived experiences, offers a replicable framework for other historical and scientific cities in Iran seeking sustainable and participatory urban branding.
fatemeh gheytasivand; Fattah Sharifzadeh; gholamreza kazemian; Davoud Hosseinpour
Abstract
Urban public policy-making is one of the most important tasks of urban management and is a process that leads to decisions made by high society officials to address urban issues. The formulation stage is one of the most important stages of this process. In this study, the factors affecting the success ...
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Urban public policy-making is one of the most important tasks of urban management and is a process that leads to decisions made by high society officials to address urban issues. The formulation stage is one of the most important stages of this process. In this study, the factors affecting the success of public policy formulation in urban management have been studied and urban public transportation has been considered as a special case of this research. This research has been done in a combined (qualitative-quantitative) way. The qualitative part of the research was analyzed using content analysis strategy and the quantitative part was analyzed by SPSS and Smart PLS software. The results of confirmatory factor analysis with PLS software while confirming the findings of the qualitative section showed how to coordinate institutions with a factor load of 86%, environmental conditions with a factor load of 81%, tasks of institutions with a factor load of 73% and the structure of institutions with a factor load 58% are the most important factors influencing the successful formulation of public transportation policies in Tehran, respectively.
