Le city branding : un atout pour les villes touchées par le terrorisme ?

Abstract

These days, European cities are afraid of dealing with a terrorist attack that can undermine their image and their reputation on the national and international level and weaken their economic activity. Indeed, many major and capital cities in Europe were the targets of the terrorist organizations over the past few years. Moreover, a competition exists between cities to be as attractive as possible and city branding represents a tool to develop the attractiveness of a territory. Our research question is: Does the city branding represent an asset for these cities affected by terrorism? To answer this question, it is worth studying in detail the concept of city branding, its stakeholders, its factors of attractiveness and crisis marketing. In addition to that, it is legitimate for the cities to reconsider their security, what can be complex. By studying the case of Liege, recently hit by terrorism, we will determine how city branding could be an asset and how should it be developed to be efficient.