Crossed by the Han River, the conurbanization of Seoul, Goyang and also Incheon has been the central axis of the Korean economic miracle since 1953 until today: its strong industrialization process and the great development of the new leading technologies have raised the quality of life of all South Koreans and also create this megacity, becoming a developed economy.

South Korea’s urban growth

It is therefore important to speak of the Metropolitan Government of Seoul which covers the entire region, and it is in charge of managing its already recognized urban brand. We have to go back to the 2002 World Cup in which this institution first introduced the concept of urban marketing.

Over the years and after rigorous studies, the city of Seoul brought out in 2007 its first promotional campaign with the goal of attracting 12 million foreign tourists and thus reach the ranking of the 10 main city brandings.

Since then Seoul’s growth and popularity has continued to grow and is expected to reach 20 million foreign tourists and become the third global destination of fair cities (MICE).

Attractions of a visit in Seoul

Anyway, Seoul is a large city with its urban environment that has had different campaigns and slogans over the last few years, but maintaining the values and meaning of the brand of the metropolitan area, previously developed in 1996.

Emblem of the great metropolitan area of Seoul

This logo is based on the Korean letters of the word Seoul using a mountain, the sun and the Han River, seeking to create a humanoid figure that shows joy and represents the spirit of its own citizens.

These elements also represent the respect for the environment with the mountain, the blue of the Han river represents history and vitality, and finally the sun in the central part symbolizes the vision of the city that looks to the future.

This symbol is used consistently as the flag of Seoul, in public buildings, signs, corporate material and official documents, and we should not confuse it with the promotional campaigns that complement it.

Seoul always wanted to see other examples of large metropolis representing its own nation states and without which these countries would not have the global recognition they now enjoy.

In 2015, the Seoul Metropolitan Government went further. They had to renew the previous image of Hi Seoul, which had been so successful, and this time they wanted to turn the decision of the winning logo into a participatory process in which the citizenship itself proposed the image and the public would vote it.

In fact, online voting ultimately accounted for 50% of the election, the other face-to-face vote 25% and the valuation of a professional committee, the other 25%.

Eventually I Seoul U won, which is very reminiscent of other successful city brandings using a mix of the city’s own name like I love New York, I Amsterdam or Be Berlin.

Winning application

 “Between people, there is Seoul”, that was the original idea that summarized the message of this new commercial logo of the South Korean capital

Between “you” and “I,” among citizens, and among people all around the world Seoul is at the center of all relationships.  Seoul is a city where diverse nationalities and generations, mountains and rivers, ancient palaces and skyscrapers, and all disparate elements coexist in harmony.

In the Seoul logo it fills the space of two points that represent the passion and the relaxion, and even being the game of words in English, there is an integration between the Korean “ㅇ” and the western “O”. Unambiguously it gives this coexistence with the rest of the world while the Koreans take pride in their cultural particularities.

And in this decade, moreover, if something is characterized by Seoul is to be able to bring technology to the world, being one of the smartest cities on the planet.

Seoul is a constantly changing city

The interconnectedness of the city, the openness of its institutions and the improvement of all its limited resources have made the metropolis a benchmark of everything that can be done in this 21st century: streets that recharge electric vehicles when they are circulating through them, free internet access throughout the city, sensors that measure and improve the environment and commercial services in the canopies of urban buses.

If something can be done with a mobile, it is sure to have been tested in Seoul. If something can be communicated under a city idea, you will surely see it in Seoul.

Puducherry offers an incredible confluence of the ancestral heritage and modern progress. The old French flavor is clearly visible in the well-laid gardens, magnificent churches, historical monuments, splendid mansions, and clean and wide roads, which still has French names.

French colonial architecture

This dual personality is its DNA and the city branding that make it special and unique within the Indian territory.

Puducherry has always absorbed different cultural and religious festivities. For example, the festival Kinni Radhothsavam in the Kamatchiamman Temple or  the International Yoga Festival. Since Puducherry is the former colony of France, the influence of French culture is evident in architecture, cuisine and lifestyle of the inhabitants of Puducherry. The influence of the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala is mixed in this heterogeneous culture.

Yogafest official image

The union territory of Puducherry has a rich cosmopolitan culture. In this city, its inhabitants speak French and English, besides Tamil and Telugu. Its colonial past makes some of the schools in Puducherry use French as the lingua franca and an another interesting fact about the town of Puducherry is that half of the territory’s population has dual nationality both French and Indian.

Posters in French

Within the metropolitan area of Puducherry we highlight a unique and spiritual space called Auroville, several kilometers north of the city. This is a community that started in 1968 as an experimental population of “Mother” (a French woman named Mirra Alfassa, the first that came to the area in 1914) in order to realize human unity, or as Alfassa indicated, creating a “place in an international community life, where men and women learn to live in peace, harmony, beyond all beliefs, political opinions and nationalities.”

Auroville planned by Roger Anger

An inalienable place that does not belong to any nation and a place where all human beings can live freely as citizens of the world.

The original idea was presented at the UN and also at the Indian Government in 1965 and the guiding principles in this community were marked until today:

1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.
2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.
3. Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.
4. Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.

This spirituality, which includes Auroville, and cultural events that we have exposed have made Puducherry a film reference.

Recently, the city was known to the world by the successful film “Life of Pi” (Ang Lee, 2012) which tells the story of young Pi Molitor Patel in an adventure that takes place initially in his town, Puducherry, which is the backdrop for many of the sequences of Life of Pi that were filmed in this city such as Pi’s childhood in the French quarter of Aayi Mandapam or scenes in the zoo run by the protagonist’s father, that really is the Garden Botanical city.

This film helps to show the colonial part of the city, the quiet life that was lived in the early 70’s and other delights in the middle of its urban nature, a showcase for breaking the Indian clichés, and we are sure that it has helped to promote Puducherry in Western cinema halls.

In addition Puducherry throughout its metropolitan complex with its exclaves in the rest of the Indian mainland formed a territorial union with other urban municipalities such as Oulgaret, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. They also have been nominated as Smart Cities for the Indian Government.

Exclaves of Puducherry including Yanam in the North, Mahe in the west coast of the subcontinent and Karaika, the nearest in the South.

At a federal level this urban territory carried out various improvements to enter into the optimum cities of the Indian Union such as the provision of sanitation of public water in homes, improvement that began in 2011, and also improving public accounts that are audited to improve urban transparency. For this civic accountability, the municipal corporation also began to show the public accounts of recent years so that any taxpayer can check how their taxes go, something new in the cities of India.

Gandhi monument

Specifically, in Puducherry we have to pay special attention to the municipal district of Oulgaret (Ozhukarai). In this town a pilot program has been planned to see voting the opinion of people regarding areas to promote within the smart city of Puducherry: urban waste management, TIC and e-government, monitoring the entrances and exits of the city, intelligent tourism, urban mobility, traffic management , monitoring of public transport by GPS and smart electricity meters and water supply.

Of all these, the points most voted by the majority will be included in the Smart City project carried out by the consulting firm Mahindra with the Country Planning Department of Puducherry in order to carry out a master plan pioneer in the history of this urban environment.

The city is renewed maintaining its charm to draw attention of the traveler. This year the Pondicherry Tourism Departament wanted to make a special and modern promotion of this urban brand that invites visitors of Pondy to forget everything, relax and discover the sensory pleasures of this part of India, under the message “Give time a break“.

A striking and unique place that awakens all the senses and brings spirituality, peace and history, as an example of intercultural coexistence.

Since then this town of 30,000 people passed within a few decades to become an industrial and financial megacity with a population of over 12 million.

Comparison of Shenzhen in two decadess

Shenzhen currently has the highest skyscrapers and shopping malls in an excruciating growth that often even implies having no space for the remaining terms of the construction of buildings and undergrown. Most appliances sold around the world are assembled in Shenzhen and its province of Guangdong, and the area also has been having a strong international reputation as a magnet for technology entrepreneurs and has been designated as one of the hubs of start-ups that will stand out in the future.

However, we see the pros and cons of this growth. Everything has been due to the designation at the time of Shenzhen as the first Special Economic Zone involving preferential treatment to foreign investment and it gave as a result, and as symbolism of the explosive development of China in the middle of globalization, a series of collateral injuries such as overcrowding, corruption, a polluted environment and the real lack of transparency in municipal law and labor rights of many of its workers, who produce our goods for western countries.

Going a few thousand inhabitants to more than 10 million has led to certain demographic changes that could explain the philosophy of this city and its own urban brand. Naturally, in this short period of time, the migrant population is 99%, very forwarder and complicated to measure accurately to official statistics, which hampers decision making and how to provide public services.

Skyscrapers de Shenzhen

Years ago, in 1989, before the arrival of the last decade of the twentieth century, Shenzhen aspired to grow a lot and from their 30 thousand go to a million over those ten years, but growth expectations multiplied exponentially and all urban planning made in the medium term remained insufficient. The housing grew chaotically and villages were formed in the inner city, built by the newcomers farmers .

Evolution of the population in Shenzhen

A new multifunctional concept appears in this Asian megacity: apartments blocks become makeshift housing for work seekers who can spend short periods of time or stay in Shenzhen lifetime. Car parks become markets, abandoned factories become schools for children not registered and the arrival of new families does not stop, involving a superhuman effort  for the citizens who can not enjoy  the benefits of development or do it asymmetrically, in  one of the largest cities in the world.

The discussion Chinese authorities have now  in order to try to make Shenzhen a more livable city is or destroy these independent urban villages or restore them, as these “vibrant communities” were the soul to the whole city, they should be participants of the new process of transformation.

After decades of rapid urbanization, China is being aware of the impact for the future the urban boom of the past decades and finally, after almost 4 decades of frenetic growth, the office of urban policy was created to launch the guide of future development for cities.

China’s urban population rose from 20 to 57% and this boom made cities like Shenzhen to go over a core with small buildings to the merger of several sub-cities and towns, making also difficult internal communication between these urbanized areas without a car.

The new urban discipline includes some basic points to revitalize existing spaces and turn them into more sustainable areas:

1. Dense and narrow streets network: To improve the transport network, the ability to walk, and the social fabric of urban neighborhoods. This process will be done in part by breaking superblocks with narrower streets one-way.
2. Historic Preservation: To save what remains of the architectural heritage of the country and to preserve the historic architecture that differentiates a city from another.

Shenzhen contrasts

3. Expand public transport networks: Shenzhen must also continue to improve its public transport network to make it more efficient.
4. Increase public and green space: It seeks to create a more livable and healthy city.
5. Efficient and high quality construction: Buildings of Shenzhen and of many other cities have been built with low quality materials and are now obliged to use techniques more efficient for a environmentally beneficial result.
6. Urban growth boundaries and reducing expansion: Shenzhen has been the paradigmatic example of growth without measure and the new approach will involve putting a brake on urban sprawl to be more sustainable.

Shenzhen pollution Day: City Hall

The current goal of Shenzhen is to reduce the average annual air quality index from 38 to 35 over the next three years. Shenzhen ranks first in air quality among major cities in China, however, the city experienced a severe pollution throughout the 2000s.

Shenzhen has shown that sustainability can be compatible with growth. Incomes per capita of Shenzhen now exceed three times the national average, while the intensity of carbon emissions per unit of GDP is almost the lowest in the big cities of China. The consumption of petrol and diesel has continued to decline over the past two years.

Shenzhen citizens in a shopping street

It all depends on the intent of their leaders and the first steps we are seeing they are really taking effect: There are about 6,300 new energy vehicles – taxis and buses – on the street. Shenzhen also attaches importance to energy saving measures, for example, new buildings must have approved a plan of energy saving before construction.

There are signs of serious intent to turn Shenzhen into a city for its inhabitants, whether residents, visitors or workers. We hope that their fruits are collected in this new decade with sustainable urban development.

Partial view of Beirut and Mosque of Mohammed al-Amin

When images of the post-war are seen in Beirut, many damaged buildings, ruins of war and deserted streets are appreciated. Now after more than two decades of planning, development and reconstruction, Beirut still has buildings that recall those dark years surrounded by new buildings in this new period of development.

Proposal for reconstruction of an area of Beirut by Christian de Portzamparc

During the last years the efforts and resources that have been launched to rebuild the city center have been enormous. It is known as the Paris of the Middle East. Before the war, Beirut was the only city in the region that offered a wide spectrum of services and resources such as banking services, educational excellence and medical facilities and entertainment. During its golden age Lebanon attracted over 1.5 million visitors a year. Visitors come to see the archaeological heritage and a unique experience of urban leisure, Mediterranean attractions and mountain resorts. Today Lebanon is working hard to promote its assets and regain its strength as regional hub that receives leisure and business investment.

The Lebanon War that occurred between 1975 and 1990 left more than 150,000 dead and 200,000 wounded people. A quarter of the previous population was forced to emigrate and left the country in ruins, both buildings of the capital and major infrastructures. Urban warfare was the main feature of military operations in Lebanon. In this type of war, the struggle takes place in the streets and alleys, and moves from house to house, causing enormous human suffering. One early example was the famous “Battle of hotels“, when several militias are positioned in the high-rise hotels facing the sea that rose on the adjacent Muslim and Christian neighborhoods.

In the years of war, Beirut was divided along ideological and religious lines leading a new mental map of the city. The city was renamed East Beirut and West Beirut and it was divided by the Green Line, a demarcation extending from Martyrs’ Square in the historic center along the Avenue of Damascus to the south of the city. The Christian forces took control of East Beirut, while Muslim and Palestinian militias took charge of West Beirut.

As a result, they were segregated previously mixed areas and most of the Muslim population in the eastern sector was expelled, while Christians in West Beirut were replaced by the Shiites of southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

The Green Line divided tha vacated city in two

The Central District and areas flanking the demarcation line that once was commonplace for all Beirutis, became the main combat zone. And as a direct consequence sub-centers self developed in different parts of the city were created, which blocks civic interaction across Beirut.

These unplanned and uncontrolled developments were the direct result of anarchy in wartime. Today, there is a major challenge to the postwar planning aimed at reconnecting the city. The end of the war brought a physical opening of the city, but the line of demarcation was deeply rooted in the minds of Beirutis.

Clock Tower, downtown Beirut 

Beyond the enormous amount of physical destruction, there were many obstacles in the way of reconstruction, including the collapse of the Lebanese administration. By law the Beirut City Council gave the authority to create real estate companies to accelerate reconstruction in areas damaged by war.Companies would be responsible for preparing the ground for the final sale and implementation of the urban plan.

Rafiq Hariri, prime minister and billionaire, created the Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut Central District (Solidere) and became one of its largest shareholders. And in compensation to displaced residents they were granted shares in the corporation, which led to many protests because the social fabric of the area was fulminated.

Solidere, Rebuilt Beirut Central District

The clash between the guardians of cultural heritage and promoters of Solidere has marked all the reconstruction of Beirut, as entire sections of the central district were demolished and not always was possible to preserve historical monuments.

It is currently emphasizing the historical recognition to maintain the alignment of the original streets, but the reconstruction master plan still leaves some gaps by not specifying urban uses of new construction since the reactivation of the Central District was launched by the private sector and markets respond to economic, not social needs, which is seen in Beirut as a phenomenon of dubaization similar to other cities of the Middle East.

The reconstruction has to link with the goals of sustainable development and the involvement of civil society.

For the future of Beirut is key coexistence between the two communities

It focuses on architecture and design sets, although the challenge remains to create an inclusive urban fabric. The city center was once the Lebanese melting pot where people from all backgrounds developed their life. The Central District has become again in the public and social center of the country, plural and respectful of ethnicity, religion and socioeconomic status of its citizens and connecting this district with all adjacent areas.

Beirut Logo

Beirut urban identity has not been treated so far. The logo of Beirut is really tied to the Lebanese state. Lebanese flag with red stripes and cedar tree are clearly represented, although this one instead of being in the central area is crowning the logo and replaced by a Phoenician ship, reminiscent of the glorious of the first residents of this city and a door to the World.

Beirut needs a proposal examples of branding to finish forging three key areas in its socio-urban development:

• End up pacifying the capital of the country is essential for Lebanon to continue living in peace for the next decades, a prime example is to get that space of coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Druze in Beirut.
• Sustainable development to create a city. Beirut rebuilds raising foundations of the past, but with a future projection in the XXI century. It has to keep in mind the citizens, their quality of life and integrate abandoned war zones as genuine lungs in a city more livable.

Evolution of green zones in the center of Beirut after the war

• Back at the forefront of Middle East. The secular capital of the Arab world that always looked open, cosmopolitan and even influenced by Paris, has to return to give a message to the world of progress, culture and respect.

There is still much to work and after short periods of peace, Lebanon and Beirut have been drowned in the responsibility to meet the Syrian and Palestinian exodus, but with a good integration they are positive points in the social development.

The city branding of Beirut will be successful when the postcards from the past are only inspiration of the present and not the memory of better moments of other times. For this, the international community, the Arab League, the European Union and consequently neighboring Israel and Syria have to let it grow in peace.

Microstates are special, and for many purposes, they are attractive for visitors and investment, but we must distinguish between small states in a territory (which have a capital) of states that are completely urban cities themselves, such as Monaco, the so-called  Vatican City or Singapore.

Regarding this one we will analyze what its Urban Brand is, not only as a sovereign nation, but as a city trying to play its role as a reference in Southeast Asia as the  window of the World.

The City Branding of this capital is very good because it helped to achieve business excellence, with good working conditions and cutting-edge technology. It is considered a cosmopolitan and multicultural city as it welcomes and encourages immigration from around the world, which is reflected in a multicultural basis: Chinese, Indians and Malays with their respective languages, religions and cultural lifestyles, an Asian melting pot that makes it exclusive.

The official languages in Singapore are English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese

Singapore is, as a microstate, one of the largest exporters and importers in the world and it has a high per capita income. Besides being, thanks to its geographical location, a necessary transit for international transport that has made attract businesses worldwide, skilled labor, and as microstate or pseudo-tax haven, their low tax rates have attracted even more foreign capital not only Western but also Chinese and Indian, which are the emerging megaeconomies. These factors qualify it as AAA by agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, that although their –deliberated- measurements made  fall down  large economies of the old continent they have boosted the foreign investment in this country.

Currently Singapore is celebrating its 50th anniversary of Independence, and the city is desguised with the little red dot: SG50.

Official SG50 logo for the 50 Anniversary of Independence

This dot represents their home and the logo shows how the Singaporean spirit is, noting that their dreams are not limited to a physical space of their island nation.

Also specified in its corporate identity manual the more colorful logo SG50 has to be applied with dignity and respect in accordance with the laws of Singapore. It can be customized freely but it can not be used for attacks against other people, causing violence or misunderstandings against political and religious interests. It can not have a misuse and this is the positive SG50 logo simplicity, which includes and does not exclude: “less is more”.

Updated national symbol

All this is not new. To understand how Singapore came to have the visibility and the current brand image, we must resume its starting point in 1986, when the city-state introduced the lion’s head as a national symbol.

In the thirteenth century the prince of Palembang, Sang Nila Utama, sank to an island and in that moment was when he saw a creature shaped like a lion, so he called this island “Singa Pura” which in Malay means Lion City and from this word it derives, naturally, the current name of Singapore.

The lion head symbolizes courage, strength, excellence and tenacity in the face of the challenges. The five strands of the lion’s mane also represent the ideals that surround the five-star national flag that are democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality

The lion logo was chosen because it includes all the features of the city, and its use, not as a shield, has served to communicate the values of Singapore in a less formal way in any event, promotion, speech, etc.

Having been an island and having got its own government has provided facilities for growing its own urban identity and City Branding. Their biggest rivals, which are other megacities of this Asian region, Tokyo, Shanghai or Hong Kong, have never had that state sovereignty to promote their brands and that were related more to the Japanese and Chinese governments, despite their autonomy .

Major world representatives, including former leader of the UN, Professor Kishore Mahbubani, spoke of these global assets that made Singapore a unique urban offer:

Assets of Singapore brand

Despite these positive factors, Singapore has to adapt to the times and create an easily understandable brand, implying that it is a friendly city that suits all profiles and it is trendy. A postmodern destination that the Singapore Tourism Broad (STB) knew capitalize with “Your Singapore“, a very open and youthful campaign.

Touristic promotion of Your Singapore

The logo of the STB is still present today and it coexists with the SG50, promoting the city as a destination, although the tourism broad presents itself as a unique brand for visitors and the anniversary of independence, however despite of having a limited duration in time,  it integrates a complete city branding campaign, with internal communication for Singaporean citizens and external communication for foreigners to enjoy traveling and visiting Singapore.

And obviously the activities of the global agenda of this city are vibrant. It embraces a wide audience thanks to the media coverage of the Formula One in Singapore, attracting millions of looks, but more recently hosting the BNP Paribas WTA Finals, the final of the world women’s tennis, in a commercial and sporting activity that also promotes women’s sport and healthier life values.

Maybe this way to promote the sport of women helps to silence criticism of the use of women’s image in the Singapore Airlines, which is the company that represents the dynamism of this city-state, as “friendly” with the stewardesses smiling, and so well connected globally by its exact location between Asia and the Pacific.

Today Singapore could not be understood  without the destinations of this airline, which is the reason why there is a direct relation between an urban identity and Singapore flights. The airline company ads are an open door to the Town of Red Lion.

But Singapore also has a pending subjet with the environment, as happens to many Asian cities.

A study by the National University of Singapore (NUS) that ranked Singapore as the worst environmental place among 179 countries has brought a strong response from the city government. This study detected the disastrous consequences that the urban development  had in the natural environment over the past 30 years.

Professor Navjot Sodhi, from Biological Sciences NUS Department, and co-author of the study said that the rapid development of Singapore in the last 30 years had lost 90% of its forests, 67% of birds, about 40% of mammals and 5% of amphibians and reptiles.

And it is not the first time that Singapore fails in environmental issues. It has been frequently cited as having one of the highest carbon emissions per capita worldwide by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

We must add to this the problem of density and lack of space on an island with a finite extension. Singapore has developed and it has plans to expand geographically gaining ground in their national waters, but has already had its first diplomatic row with Malaysia. The question is that any intent to harm the seas, even in urban environments, has a clear negative impact and whether in or out of a national domain it must always be denounced.

In red extension of Singapur gained from the sea

Singapore is a large city, populated, dynamic, but with a limited growth and is why it has to create an added value in its urban brand. All services, creations and spaces of this city-state should have those transverse values that have earned it a unique worldwide reputation.

To improve the environment and the uses of its spaces for everybody are the challenges that this lion will have for the next 50 years.

Azebaijan capital returns to be protagonist this year to host what is expected as a sports star event in Europe: The European Games in its very first edition.

The city has changed, it has been remodeled and has evolved. Baku has 13 transportation projects and upgrading subway is expected to be open for the Games. The renovated Heydar Aliyev Airport of Baku also plans to open route with 50 cities of over 22 countries, making reference destination for transition of the Transcaucasian area, all thanks to the shot in the arm that was in its past moment the candidacy of  Baku 2020 for summer Olympics, a real project of synergies and renovation of the city.

Map Project Baku Olympic Village

It is not just a matter of Azerbaijan has attracted a lot of foreign investment last decade or even the Olympic spirit has begun in his previous bid large projects to change the skyline of this city, but is also behind a real declaration of intent on turning Baku into a more European capital, although it is the easternmost country of political Europe. We remember that Azerbaijan is geographically divided between the two continents, like Turkey.

The European Olympic Committees bring together 50 countries with a major sporting power and whose official headquarters was in Rome since 1968. These committees had a role until now symbolic and it is expected to achieve with Baku 2015 the same than other groups of continental Olympic committees, right on the world region than has most advanced in integration.

His staging of course is a major international call to other neighboring countries of the old continent to visit Baku and to encourage their sports federations in the categories, in addition to that, they are more minority and that without a exhibition, such as the Olympic promotions, they would not have the media coverage and public funding such as these.

The June 12, 2015 everything has to be ready and prepared including new facilities such as the National Stadium in Baku , National Gymnastics Arena or the Aquatic Center and other facilities.

The application of the corporate image is provided by the agency SomeOne a British study that already had its Olympic debut in London last year and applied the official logo of Baku 2015 (Adem Yunosov’s design) inspired by the millennial Azerbaijani culture and it includes:

• Flames because Azerbaijan uses this element as a national mark.
• Water considering that Baku city would not be understood as a port capital of the Caspian Sea.
• The mythical Simurgh is a benevolent flying mythological creature that represents the union between heaven and earth.
• The carpet of Azerbaijan that is part of the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2010.
• And finally the Pomegranate symbolizing fertility and abundance because 2015 Baku 2015’s ambition is “to attract people from all over Europe in a celebration of sport and create a legacy for future generations.”

Baku 2015 Logo

And of course, it is expected that two mascots have been created,  Nar, which is just an Azerbaijani Pomegranate and Jeyran the Gazelle, which are a must for the youth in the First Edition of the European Games.

Jeyran and Nar are the official  mascots of the European Games Baku 2015

The logo application evokes not only the basic colors of the Olympics but the vitality of the pomegranate tree. This product is essential for international trade of Azerbaijan and graphically a great success for neighboring countries to relate the culture of the Caucasian country with the Olympic dynamism and modernity of its forms.

Posters of the different sports categories

From all this a tremendous energy is released for the Azerbaijani neighbours who make with their capital a  benchmark in Europe, even from the other side of the Caucasus , and they feel very close.