Amid race for technological development, a leading industry expert has warned that a more comprehensive, sustainable approach is needed. “Global cities compete for talent, investments and tourists, and need to better differentiate themselves from their competitors. Conventional city branding using logos or advertising campaigns are not enough to have a long-term impact. A more comprehensive, sustainable approach is needed, and the Global City Abu Dhabi session will discuss issues including generating buy-in from all stakeholders in this process and implementing branding themes across a city's operations,” said Thomas Sevcik, CEO of the Switzerland-based Arthesia, session chair at the upcoming Global City 2009 forum on April 7-8, 2009 to be held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. “There is a complex interplay of factors that determine how cities and urban regions evolve over time and the way they can be marketed. It is not enough to design a new logo or a tagline. The image of a city is very strongly influenced by its on-ground reality and therefore any plan for its positioning has to be closely integrated with its development,” he added. Leading experts and brand stewards of some of the world's leading cities will participate in a double session on City Branding at the forum. The ‘city branding' session at Global City will emphasize the themeworld approach that combines a city's development plan with a branding strategy to create a city's identity and positioning in the global context. During this session, four different ‘city branding' case studies will be presented: Greater Zurich Area, City of Melbourne, Italian towns and villages, and Abu Dhabi. Walter Anderau, member of the Board of Directors, Greater Zurich, Switzerland; Carol Coletta, CEO and President, CEOs for Cities, USA, co-speakers at the session, will discuss the principles behind successful city branding. Dr Kathy Alexander, CEO, City of Melbourne, Australia, and Reem Al Shemari, general manager, Abu Dhabi Brand Office will also address the City Branding session. Pierciro Galeone, director, Res Tipica, Italy, will explain how cultural tradition can be used to create premium gourmet and artisanal products that reinforce a city's brand globally and boost economic activity at home. Global City is a unique knowledge-gathering, networking and business platform dedicated to mayors, urban planners, decision
