Educational Projects for Linking Place Branding and Urban Planning in Serbia

Abstract

The influence of place branding in urban development has more importance than ever. Nevertheless, little attention is given to how place branding strategies are interrelated with planning, especially in post-socialist urban development. The purpose of this paper is to critically explore experimental educational projects conducted through cooperation between academia and local governments in Serbia, perceived as a simulation of strategic planning and place branding. We argue that educational projects hold power to create additional value in place and contribute to place branding by using a variety of planning and design instruments as a means of transformative spatial and social change both for communities and students as future planners. This paper uses theoretical exploration to develop reflective structural elements and a set of criteria essential to interlink strategic planning and place branding, thus providing a unique apparatus for the evaluation of educational projects. By emphasizing the possibilities and limitations of educational projects, the paper contributes to the theoretical advancement of place branding and strategic planning interlink and sheds light on the effects that those projects may have on spatial development and governance of the territory.