It is the capital of South Australia and a key point of sophisticated Australian culture. Known in its origins as the “City of Churches“, it always stood out for its open character and free colonization of convicts, a status that helped to forge an idea of peaceful, constructive community and proud to found a new social group in the antipodes of Europe when this territory was the end of the planet.

More than 75% of the inhabitants of the Federal State live in Adelaide, which is extreme- even for Australia – , and its social cohesion and services have made it one of the most livable cities on the planet, specifically the 6th in the last classification of 2016.

Adelaide is recognized in Australia for its vibrant cultural and leisure agenda

 Adelaide is internationally recognized for its art, wine and sport festivals. A self-made city that knew how to get out of the industrial crisis and create new attractive proposals for residents, visitors and companies that want to invest in the city.

A city that welcomes people of all kinds of race, origin and religion, as we said, it comes from the origins of the founders of South Australia whose vision of religious tolerance forged a new attractive colony for a great diversity of religious practitioners, starting with English dissidents who had suffered religious persecution in England.

The first escapees were the Cornish Methodists, the Unitarians, particularly some intellectuals like Catherine Henen Spence or Robert Kay, and also Prussian Lutherans.

Seventh-day Adventists and Christadelphians, who were minorities even in America, also came to Adelaide later, although the greatest diversity, such as Australia’s own multiculturalism, came hand-in-hand with waves of immigrants: from the Mediterranean and Eastern European countries gave rise to new Orthodox creeds, Catholics and also Eastern religions by the Chinese community.

Something extraordinary about this city is that in the last decades the faith has not only diversified, but some practices have been merged and new ones have been created, represented for example by the Multi-Faith Association, Queer spirituality conference or modern societies that go beyond religion such as the Pagan Society, the Humanist Society and the Atheist Society of South Australia.

Moseley Square, Adelaide

The city of churches, on the other hand, did not turn Adelaide into a pilgrimage center for worship services. Its city branding revolves around melting pot and progress within diversity. The communities of citizens of Adelaide do not concentrate on ghettos of religion, but quite the opposite, and that also helped to the technological and social advances that enriched the Australian development.

From the technological point of view, another attraction is the city’s digital agenda. An agreement between the State Government of South Australia and the City of Adelaide deployed a comprehensive public WiFi network throughout the city.

It was then when Cisco came in with the help of the authorities, they began to consider how it was possible that digitization could improve the provision of services to citizens: monitored smart parking or smart lighting to replace halogen bulbs and with sensors that adjust the light to factors such as the time of day and the movement nearby.

There are many other projects that Adelaide wants to focus on but the City Council and Cisco are clear that to be successful, all smart city projects need to be driven to meet the needs of residents and visitors. Apart from improving everyday actions these projects may also reduce our ecological footprint in the city.

Adelaide Oval

However, it should be noted that Adelaide can become an ideal smart city for two reasons. On the one hand, the association between the state government and the municipal council that commits the authorities to collaborate effectively to promote the common good of the entire community; and on the other hand, the size of the city in relation to the level of innovation of the parties involved, ideal to be able to realize today the transition from analog city to digital city.

Today we can speak of a good example of a collaborative city with the aim of having “zero residues”, great goal, but with solutions in place so that it does not remain in a simple statement of good intentions.

An example of this, and to create a more concise and efficient city, Share N Save was born, a platform to visualize neighborhood to neighborhood, all activities available in the city to share, save, exchange, repair and connect with local communities. It is a way of mapping a city and uniting its citizens, initiative of Green Industries SA.

This public company under the state government of South Australia helps to develop a green economy in response to the demand of clean and ecological products by the citizens and thus, be able to reduce emissions to the air, water and soil of heavy industry. In short, Green Industries promotes the most efficient use of resources and also the conservation and recovery of scarce resources.

Cleland Wildlife Park, Adelaide Hills

All this explanation of Adelaide is finally summed up in a simple logo with an open door which is a traditional symbol of hope or opportunity, a simple way of welcome. This is the logo of the state of South Australia, which also represents Adelaide as it concentrates practically all its population and services.

Adelaide logo under the South Australian brand

Its values and attributes focus on creativity, innovation and industriousness, three attributes that define the essence of South Australia and Adelaide and which seek to be a claim for investment from outside Australia, from the island itself and that link all its residents.

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.