PhD defence A.A. (Abdulrhman) Alsayel

Brief summary:

In the middle of the Arabian desert, Saudi Arabia is in the process of a major shift, with its goal of achieving a new era of urban growth through the implementation of its Vision 2030 plan. This initiative seeks to diversify the economy, move from oil endowment to knowledgebased economy through innovation and culture. The metamorphosis is represented by the capital – Riyadh, which is being actively developed as a megacity and a global hub, concentrated on the development of infrastructure, cultural industries, and attracting talent from around the world.

Vision 2030, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has identified place branding as a critical component in the Saudi Arabian strategic plan to improve the country’s image, attract foreign investment, and foster sustainable urban development. Nevertheless, the process of rapid development brings up issues of cultural assimilation, social exclusion, and economic inequality. The hierarchical culture of Saudi Arabia, which is based on the respect for power, affects governance and place branding and can be considered as both a strength and a weakness. The centralized governance structure enables quick project delivery, however, it reduces the possibilities for public engagement and stakeholders’ participation. This approach requires that regional culture be preserved even as the city is modernized and that innovation be made with consideration of social justice to ensure that all the city’s residents are able to benefit from the changes.

Most of the current place branding research is based on Western societies, which emphasize the involvement of stakeholders and bottom-up approaches, while ignoring cultural and organizational differences in non-Western, collectivistic nations. Since Saudi Arabia is one of the most centralized absolute monarchies, it is relevant to examine place branding within this type of political system. Thus, the case of Saudi Arabia provides valuable insights into how culture, centralization, and rapid urbanization influence place branding and how it differs from the Western models.

This thesis comprises four related papers that focus on various aspects of place branding, each with its research questions, objectives, methods, and theory. The overall objective is to examine the cultural, institutional, and governance factors that affect the adoption of branding strategies in the centralized administrative system of Saudi Arabia. The study uses both qualitative methods like content analysis of policy documents, strategic plans and media reports and semi-structured interviews with key informants including the urban planners, policymakers and community leaders. The case studies are based on different Saudi cities, which embody different types of multi-level governance and the level of the central government’s intervention. To examine these strategies, the analytical framework incorporates different theoretical approaches that explain the relationships between culture, institutions, and governance. It underlines the importance of context sensitivity and how the global branding strategies can be localized; it underscores the part played by the central government in championing and coordinating such efforts towards the achievement of national development objectives.