City make‐overs: The place marketing of melbourne during the kennett years, 1992–99

Abstract

Abstract Over the past two decades, the emergence of a new global economic order has triggered an intensification of competition between cities for footloose investment capital and tourism. Some have proven to be more successful than others at this form of civic boosterism through the adoption of place promotion and place marketing. Unfortunately, most research on this contemporary urban phenomenon has focused on Northern Europe and the United States, not Australia. To redress this imbalance, this paper examines why intercity competition has intensified, outlining the main features of place promotion and marketing and then examining how the Kennett Coalition government place‐marketed Melbourne and Victoria within the Asia‐Pacific Rim region. It attempts to assess whether the place marketing campaign succeeded and highlights a number of limitations with this mode of urban analysis.