2001 — Positioning Our City (Part 2)
2. Our city urgently needs a clear positioning. (1) Positioning determines a city's character, individuality, and direction of development. The term "positioning" originated in advertising. The core idea of positioning theory, as explained by Al Ries and Jack Trout of the United States, is "to manipulate what already exists in the mind and to reconnect existing connections." If, as a city
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
II. Our city urgently needs a clear positioning.
(1) Positioning concerns a city's characteristics, individuality, and direction of development.
The term "positioning" originated in the advertising industry. The core idea of positioning theory, explained by Al Ries and Jack Trout of the United States, is "to manipulate what already exists in the mind and to reconnect existing linkages."
If the city's character, as the primary content of a city's overall planning, embodies a city's status and role in the political, economic, and cultural life of the nation or region, represents the city's individuality, characteristics, and direction of development, and all urban construction and the development of various undertakings must comply with and reflect the requirements of the city's character; then, on the basis of determining the city's character, distilling a thematic slogan or theme phrase to position the city not only embodies its individuality and characteristics but also defines its direction of development, and at the same time, because of its conciseness and vividness, it can also stimulate the desires of tourists. Take Shanghai as an example: the city's overall planning defines Shanghai's urban character as: China's largest economic center and shipping center, a national historical and cultural city, and one that will gradually be built into one of the international economic, financial, and trade center cities and one of the international shipping centers; its urban tourism image positioning is: one of the central tourism cities on the western coast of the Pacific. Take Beijing as another example: the city's overall planning defines Beijing's urban character as: the capital of the great socialist China, the nation's political center and cultural center, a world-famous ancient capital and modern international city; its urban tourism image positioning is: one of the central tourism cities of Asia-Pacific, a world-famous tourism city with Oriental characteristics.
In a broad sense, a city is a kind of commodity. All excellent tourism cities should have their own distinct thematic positioning, such as Vienna, the City of Music; Venice, the Water City; Harbin, the Ice City; Hong Kong, the City of Dynamism, and so on. The more accurate the positioning and the more distinct the theme, the better it can reflect characteristics, individuality, and the correct direction of development, the more it can leave an indelible impression on people, and the more it can attract a continuous stream of visitors.
(2) On the city's character.
Since the establishment of Zhangjiajie as a city, the municipal government has organized two major city overall planning formulation activities. The first formulation task was undertaken by the Hunan Provincial Urban Planning Research and Design Institute and the Municipal Planning and Architectural Design Institute, and was completed by 1993; the second was undertaken by the Planning and Design Institute of Tsinghua University, and still awaits further revision. The urban character determined in the first overall planning was: Dayong City (later renamed Zhangjiajie City) is a world natural heritage site—the Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area and the tourism base of northwestern Hunan and an important window for Hunan Province's opening to the outside world, and is a developing international tourism city. On this basis, Tsinghua University revised it to: Zhangjiajie City is the central service base of the Wulingyuan tourism area, an emerging international-oriented tourism city, and the transportation and economic and trade center of northwestern Hunan and its surrounding areas.
Regarding the city's character, the content revised by Tsinghua University can be said to be relatively accurate. The only question is whether the item "tourism" should be added before "transportation and economic and trade center." Because our city has in fact already formed a radiating role relied upon by surrounding areas such as Mengdong River, Jishou, and Fenghuang in the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, and Taoyuan and Shimen in Changde; moreover, its status as a tourism center city will become increasingly prominent.
According to the author's incomplete statistics, among the thematic slogans (or theme phrases) used to position our city's urban area in one sentence, two are quite widely circulated: "International Tourism New City" and "Ecological Tourism City." The main task of this article is to explore urban positioning. Therefore, the author attempts to offer some rather immature views on these two formulations, "International Tourism New City" and "Ecological Tourism City," in order to seek correction from people inside and outside the industry.
(3) On "International Tourism New City" and "Ecological Tourism City."
First, "International Tourism New City." The greatest merit of this thematic slogan lies in the two words "international." Although this "new city" was born out of a small mountain county town, with a poor foundation and many burdens, this forward-looking slogan can boost morale and strengthen confidence. As for its shortcomings, first, it seems a bit too grand and too empty, lacking operability; second, it lacks individuality and lacks distinctive characteristics.
Next, "Ecological Tourism City." Compared with the previous positioning, this thematic slogan is much more substantial. First, ecological tourism is a worldwide trend; second, Zhangjiajie's tourism resources, represented by the Wulingyuan core scenic area, are mainly peak-forest sightseeing-type ecological tourism, so highlighting ecological tourism in the urban area to echo and set it off can better strengthen the effect; third, in developing the theme of ecological tourism, our city possesses a uniquely endowed natural environment. As for its shortcomings, I humbly believe that the two words "ecological" alone seem unable to cover the main content that this city positioning must encompass. The city itself is a highly artificialized ecosystem compounded of three subsystems—social, economic, and natural. Following ecological laws and the laws of urban development, striving to improve the urban ecology, and promoting a virtuous cycle are common topics that every city must face, and are not unique to our city. Therefore, if the thematic slogan is crowned only with "ecological," there may be a risk of weakening its individuality.
(4) My positioning for our city.
Whether determining the city's character or positioning the city's image, neither is something accomplished overnight; there is a process of continuous understanding, revision, and refinement. Take Beijing as an example: first it was proposed to transform a consumer city into a producer city, which had its rationale under the background of the time; later it was proposed to build Beijing into a comprehensive industrial base with a complete range of categories, and practice proved that this positioning brought many negative effects; only in 1981 was it made clear that as the capital it must highlight its functions as a political and cultural center. Take Changsha as another example: its urban positioning went through four stages in succession, first positioned as "the provincial capital of Chairman Mao's hometown—a glorious revolutionary city," then as a "modern metropolis," then as a "modern central city," and then as an "Oriental cultural and ecological landscape city." Countless facts show that whether urban positioning is scientific and accurate directly affects the success or failure of urban construction.