Cultural urban branding and creative cities: A theoretical framework for promoting creativity in the public spaces

In response to the fragmentation of individuals brought on by globalization, it is important to expand the positioning of the four quadrants of public space, based on cosmopolitanism, in order to re-establish the creativity of cities. By examining cases such as that of cultural urban branding at BMW-MINI, and Montreal’s puppet theatre, which chose to adopt the methods of Bunraku for its displays, this paper points out a direction for the building of an urban strategic management system that will expand the city’s capabilities. For creative cities, it is important to motivate people for implementing cultural urban branding by inserting balance into the process of expanding the four public spaces. Design and the arts can have integrative functions for attaining this. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.