What Residents Want to Project: Investigating Place Identity in City Branding through Participatory Research — Evidence from Blumenau, Brazil
Through participatory projective interviews in Blumenau, Brazil, this study reveals that residents project a place identity centered on a European-German heritage and social environment, while their support for development is driven by cost-benefit calculations, thereby validating projective methods and integrating Place Identity and Social Exchange theories to explain resident-driven city branding.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Every city has a story it tells the world, often through logos, slogans, and advertisements designed to attract visitors and investors. But there is another story, one that is rarely written down but is constantly spoken by the people who live there. This second story is the image residents want to project of their home. It is the feeling they hope a stranger will get when they walk down the street. For a city to have a genuine identity, these two stories must align. If the official marketing promises a vibrant, safe, and welcoming place, but the people living there feel unsafe or disconnected, the brand loses its truth. Understanding what residents actually want to say about their city is therefore not just a matter of public opinion; it is the foundation of any successful effort to define a place.
Researchers have long known that a city's image is made up of many parts. Some parts are physical, like the look of the buildings and the cleanliness of the streets. Others are functional, such as the quality of hospitals, schools, and public transport. There are also social parts, which include how people treat one another, the sense of safety, and the general mood of the community. Finally, there is the aspect of tourism, which involves how a city presents its culture and events to visitors. While many studies have asked tourists what they think of a city, or asked residents to rate specific services on a survey, few have asked residents to describe their city as if they were introducing it to a friend who had never been there. This approach seeks to uncover the spontaneous, heartfelt image that lives in the minds of the people who call the place home.
In the city of Blumenau, located in southern Brazil, a team of researchers set out to uncover exactly this image. Blumenau is known for its strong German heritage, its famous beer festival, and its orderly streets, but the researchers wanted to know what the people living there actually wanted the world to see. They did not rely on long lists of questions or statistical scores. Instead, they sat down with twenty residents, each of whom had lived in the city for at least five years, and asked them to imagine they were showing the city to a stranger. They asked these residents to describe the places they loved, the things that made the city special, and the values they wanted to share. The researchers listened to these stories and looked for patterns in how the residents described their home.
The findings revealed a clear and consistent picture. The residents of Blumenau project an image of their city as a European-style haven within Brazil. They see it as organized, safe, and deeply rooted in its German traditions, but they also want it to be seen as a modern, living community, not just a museum of the past. The most important part of this image, the thread that connects everything else, is the social environment. When the residents spoke about their city, they focused heavily on how people behave toward one another. They described a place where it is safe to walk alone at night, where children can go to school without being accompanied, and where neighbors sweep their own sidewalks as a sign of civic pride. This sense of collective care and safety was not just a background detail; it was the core of the identity they wanted to project.
Beyond the social atmosphere, the residents highlighted specific physical landmarks that define their city. They spoke with pride about the historic downtown street, the riverfront that has survived major floods, and the old German-style buildings that line the avenues. These were not just pretty sights; they were symbols of resilience and history that the residents felt were part of their own identity. They also pointed to their community facilities, such as the hospitals and schools, as evidence of a well-managed city. However, their view of these facilities was practical. They supported economic growth and new jobs, but only if those changes did not destroy the quiet, orderly character of the city. This suggests that their support for development is a careful balance, where they weigh the benefits of progress against the cost to their way of life.
When it came to tourism, the residents expressed a desire to move beyond the single, massive beer festival that puts the city on the map every year. They want Blumenau to be seen as a destination that is interesting and welcoming all year round. They envision a city where visitors can enjoy German-influenced food, explore cultural museums, and experience the local culture without the crowds of the main event. They see their city as a gateway to the wider region, a place where the German heritage is lived every day, not just performed for tourists. The residents want the world to see a city that is authentic, where the culture is real and the people are genuinely hospitable.
The study suggests that this projected image is built on two main forces. First, the residents see the city as an extension of themselves. The clean streets, the safe neighborhoods, and the friendly faces are not just things they observe; they are things they feel define who they are. Because they feel a deep connection to the place, they naturally want to share its best qualities with others. Second, their willingness to promote the city is also a practical calculation. They believe that a strong, positive image brings benefits to the community, such as better tourism and economic opportunities, but only if the city remains true to its values. If the city changes too much or loses its character, they feel that the benefits would not be worth the cost.
This research highlights that a city's brand cannot be created by a marketing team alone. It must grow from the daily lives and shared values of the people who live there. In Blumenau, the image the residents want to project is one of a safe, organized, and culturally rich community that has managed to keep its unique identity while growing. The study shows that when residents feel a strong connection to their home and see tangible benefits in sharing that home with the world, they become the most powerful ambassadors a city can have. Their stories, spoken in everyday language, provide the most authentic blueprint for how a city should present itself to the world.
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