An integrated model of city and neighborhood identities: A tale of two cities

Drawing on the place branding literature, we explain how identity formed at a lower level of place scale (i.e., neighborhood) influences identity formation at a higher level of place scale (i.e., city). We tested the proposed hypotheses by developing and testing an integrated model of place identity for two cities in Bangladesh. Findings suggest that neighborhood brand love, resident-neighborhood relationship, place dependence and place social bonding positively impact neighborhood identity, which in turn positively influences resident-neighborhood satisfaction and resident-neighborhood citizenship behavior. The study also finds that city identity is formed by neighborhood identity and resident-neighborhood satisfaction. The current study addresses the calls for more research on place branding and marketing to advance the development of theory in the area of city branding.