The second annual volume of the International Place Branding Yearbook; this collection looks at the case for applying brand and marketing strategies and to the economic, social, political and cultural development of cities, towns and regions around the world to help them compete in the global, national and local markets.

TOM ADAMS Chief Digital Officer, Future Brand Worldwide SIMON ANHOLT Member of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Public Diplomacy Board, and Independent Policy Adviser GREGORY J.ASHWORTH University of Groningen, the Netherlands GUIDO BERENS Assistant Professor of Corporate Communication, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, the Netherlands ERIK BRAUN ED BURGHARD Executive Director, Ohio Business Development Coalition, USA THOMAS CROMWELL President, East West Communications BARRY M. FEINBERG Executive Vice President, GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications CHARLES J. FOMBRUN Chairman, Reputation Institute NICHOLAS IND Associate Professor, Oslo School of Management and Visiting Professor at ESADE, Barcelona and Napier University, Edinburgh, UK MIHALIS KAVARATZIS University of Leicester, UK SLAWOMIR MAGALA KASPER ULF NIELSEN Executive Partner, Reputation Institute NATALYA S. PAK Associate Professor, English Language Department, Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU), Kazakhstan LEONARD N. PONZI Managing Partner, Reputation Institute and Managing Director of Global Research CAMILLA SCHIPPA Director, Institute for Economics and Peace WADIM SCHREINER Pretoria, South Africa INGVAR TJØSTHEIM LOUISE TODD School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages, Edinburgh Napier University, UK NICOLAS GEORGES TRAD Executive Partner, Reputation Institute JOHAN VAN REKOM Department of Marketing Management, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands PEETER W. J. VERLEGH Associate Professor, RSM Erasmus University, the Netherlands XIAOYAN ZHAO Director, Global Research and Consulting, GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications.