Master in City Planning Thesis
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In planning and development practices, branding is often used as a promotional tool to attract investments and tourists, and thought of as a mechanism to portray a selected image of a place. In this thesis, I argue that the branding process can be one of the driving forces of neighborhood change and that place brands play an active role in producing sense of place along with physical and social changes. As cities increasingly choose images to communicate outwards and reposition themselves after the decline of industry, it is important to understand the role place brands play in the production and transformation of space.
This thesis examines a neighborhood in transition, Seongsu-dong, Seoul, South Korea. From being one of Seoul’s few semi-industrial zones to a “hot place” for cultural and commercial activities, Seongsu has seen large shifts in the past decade, widely branded with the label “Brooklyn of Korea.” With diverse parties using the Brooklyn brand in different ways while leveraging similar qualities, Seongsu provides a rich case study on how branding as a process not only shapes images of a place, but can also impact the built environment. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, this thesis tries to bridge the gap between portrayal of neighborhood change and tangible changes.
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