Beyond aesthetics: Building a city brand for connection, resilience, and legacy

This article was previously published in Money Mag.

Barcelona is a textbook example of genius planning – but that doesn’t prepare you for the overwhelming sensation of being in the thick of it. I could describe the thinking behind the Barcelona superblock, the hierarchy of its street widths, the perfect interplay of the rigidly planned grids of Eixample with the more organic medieval maze of the Gothic Quarter, and the visible presence of stalwarts like Gaudì, Miró, and even van der Rohe. It would enthuse anyone with an interest in shaping the future of our cities but it would not capture the essence of the city.

Spending 24 hours in the city, on the other hand, can imbue a visitor with the intangible attributes of the city. The sights, the sounds, and the scents. The way the city nudges your journey through it as you attempt to traverse its incredibly different neighbourhoods. The planned chaos of the Ramblas during the day and the quiet introspection possible at sunrise on your way back to your hotel after the city has swallowed you up for the night.

You will go back home and realise there is more to be said than any amount of research in advance can possibly provide. This deep-seated culture, the way that centuries of planners and architects and designers have contributed their fingerprint to the way a city feels, is all part of the organic, yet completely coherent, construction of a city brand that benefits from the accumulated experiences of generations.

But what makes a city more than the collection of buildings and streets that are evidence of its physical construction? What gives it a distinct identity? As with any brand, it is a complex and multifaceted combination of the history, the cultural values, the traditions, and the aspirations of all the people who have lived in the city and who call it home today. It is the collective sense of ownership and shared identity that is felt by all of its inhabitants. And since it is so democratic, it isn’t the kind of sentiment that can be forced from the top down. It takes time, gentle nudges, deliberate interventions, and the will of the many to make changes to the brand of a city.

Is all the world one city?

I am speaking of the city brand because it is the easiest way to exemplify the notion. A country brand is just as important but, in the case of most countries, this tends to be fragmented and influenced by the differences between city identities. Milan and Rome, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Tokyo and Osaka… we can mention city pairs that show us how different a city brand can be from that of another city in the same country and how each is clearly distinct from the national brand.

Malta is a small country. Small enough, sometimes, to think of it as a compact city. But the realities of the country show us that trying to force a single communal brand to the entire archipelago would be to ignore the unbelievable diversity of attitudes and values that the tiny islands somehow present.

City brand by design

So far, the notion of a city brand may sound like much of it is left to chance. But it is the people responsible for designing the constructed environment that have the most impact on a city’s brand. Without deliberate intent, a city’s identity meanders through time, taking on the guise given to it by the next generation of planners and designers to make their mark.

There is a better way. As with a commercial concern, being deliberate about a city’s identity can provide a more fundamental and longer-lasting impact. It can shape the entire future of a city, committing great ideas to history. The design choices we make today, the ones that are so brilliant that they will stand the test of time, are the marks that our generation is responsible for committing to posterity.

We think of aesthetics when we think of deliberate design, but that’s just a logo. The real work contributes to the deep-seated narrative of the city and it is based on a thoroughly thought-out set of values, a deliberate contribution to the sense of place, and a democratic sense of what will create a better experience for those who live and work in the city.

Who’s cooking?

When we hear the words ‘city’ and ‘brand’ in the same sentence, we think of tourist boards. It is almost like they have been given the role of branding a city because no one else wanted to do it. It is also the most absurd place for this responsibility to reside. One must design and construct a city or country in a way that reflects its identity. Only then can we hope to attract visitors.

As self-evident as this is, we might need the numbers to back it up. The most visited country on earth is France, with 100 million people picking it as their holiday spot every year. France, the country that makes little effort to ask you to visit, has such a strong sense of national identity that we just flock there.

This places the responsibility of a strong and believable city brand firmly in the capable hands of designers, architects, and city planners. The tourist board will then package and communicate the result.

Purpose-driven design

Designing for a city requires intentionality that goes beyond the specific reach of the project one entity happens to be working on. It requires us to ask a set of questions that uncover the foundations of the city and lay them bare for us to respect and design for. It requires practitioners to think of the purpose of the space they’re working on and how it dovetails with the core values of the city. It broadens the question of who one is designing for, allowing the audience definition to extend beyond those commissioning a project. And perhaps even more crucially, it asks deeper questions about legacy.

When we consider the legacy of a city we think of functional buildings like residences or workplaces. But we must also think of third spaces – those realms that belong to everyone in the city and that are the in-between spots. City squares, parks, walkways, and even a tiny bench under a solitary tree. These are the spaces where connections are made. They are the spaces where we flourish as a species that is gregarious and that depends on human connection. The spots that turn a city into a living and breathing whole rather than a collection of unconnected individuals.

Design for good

There are more elements that go into purposely defining the identity of a city. As we evolve our notion of what constitutes a great city, we shift our performance indicators from those that were purely fiscal to ones that address the wellbeing of its inhabitants. We look at green infrastructure that incorporates flora and fauna other than humans, improving our sense of wellbeing as well as the air quality of our cities. We consider accessible and universal design that create connections for all, regardless of age or ability. We also think of a human as one that needs a healthy body for a healthy mind and create spaces and opportunities for activity such as walking, running, and cycling.

Mixed-use developments create more vibrant neighbourhoods by combining residential, commercial, and recreational spaces, and as we build denser cities these can just as easily be vertical. And the responsible preservation of existing structures serves to cement the history of the city while being sensible with the use of resources.

We’ve all got a part to play

Every aspect of city planning ought to be deliberate and every player can have a direct positive impact towards the construction of a city we can be proud of. We see it reflected, for example, in the work of companies like Furnitubes, a British supplier of urban outdoor furniture that prioritizes social connection and environmental responsibility in its design and manufacturing processes. They happen to be clients and our work within their organisation has given our agency first hand experience of how a thoughtful approach to the design of outdoor spaces can be a powerful tool for social good.

The city of the future

Ultimately, shaping a city’s brand is about more than aesthetics or economic development. A city, at its heart, is a collection of human stories. It’s the laughter in a playground, the quiet contemplation on a bench by the sea, the chaotic functionality of a flea-market, the shared experience of a community. 

Shaping a city’s brand is about crafting a legacy. It’s about creating a place where people feel connected, where communities thrive, and where the future is built on a foundation of shared purpose and thoughtful design. The choices we make today, from the grandest architectural gestures to the smallest details of street furniture, will resonate for generations to come. This presents an incredible opportunity: to design and build functional spaces that are also meaningful places which foster connection, resilience, and a legacy we can all be proud of.