ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses local social tensions relating to the urban dimension of city branding. The main idea is to raise critical aspects of brand-sensitive urban development. One of these challenging questions, which harks back to the good old Growth Machine thesis, is how different socio-economic groups relate to city branding and who reaps the benefits of branded urban development. It is also important to pay attention to tensions between urban entrepreneurialism and local activism, as in the cases of the Creative Class Struggle of Toronto or the tension between prestigious art institutions and the everyday life of local art communities as discussed in the case of Bilbao and its Guggenheim Museum. This chapter discusses critical aspects that form an integral part of the big picture of political economy of city branding.
