Place Marketing and Management: A Complex Adaptive Systems View. The Strategic Planning of the City of Avellino, Italy

Abstract

The objective of this work is to contribute to place management and marketing studies by looking at the territory, as a complex adaptive system aiming to reach a dynamic equilibrium—a steady state. According to this approach, the territorial system emerges as a result of its capacity, its social actors and governance, and the analysis, creation and maintenance of relationships—the dynamics—between the territory components, both tangible and intangible ones, and its many and varied stakeholders. These relational dynamics produce continuous and reciprocal adaptive behaviours among social actors who determine, influence, and adapt the vision of the territory. Through an interdisciplinary approach, we evaluate the recent literature on town planning and geography, aiming to bridge the gap in place management and marketing literature. We propose a framework based on systemic and complexity theory and propose a novel approach that supports decision makers in modelling the future scenario, taking choices regarding place management and place marketing.