Part 4 of 4: How to Move Your City Forward?

October 2, 2015 Brand New Purpose

This is the wrap to our four-part series on the future of local governments in the USA. To recap, we outlined some driving forces of change, aspects of civic well-being, and then brought it together under the umbrella of place branding. As you’ll recall, we suggested three major steps to take in our first article:

1. Putting someone in charge of strategic planning, branding and innovation

2. Develop a plan for consolidation of services as revenues collapse

3. Make continuous sustainability your central policy goal

Part 2 of 4: How to Keep It from Happening to You/r City?

September 15, 2015 Brand New Purpose

We’ve received much positive feedback on our original Op-ed on the major challenges facing local governments in the early 21st century. Folks have asked us to expand on our stratagems on how to keep these oncoming forces of change at bay. You can make these forces work for you – not against you – if you have a strategy. Our intent is to help you craft that strategy.

So, we’ve decided to drill down on a couple of major issues and help point the way towards a sustainable pathway for civic development. First, we want to explore civic engagement and life satisfaction as an overarching public goal, and then link that to the development of your city’s brand. As we shift to a post-industrial capitalist society, there is perhaps no better venue to express having ‘well-being’ as the primary motivating public policy goal.

Part 1 of 4: Will Your City be DOA in the 21st Century?

September 9, 2015 Brand New Purpose

Do you remember seeing photographs of or visiting old ghosts towns across the US, particularly in the West? In the near future, we’ll be seeing new ghost towns across the country. Will your local government be one of them? It could be… but needn’t be. There are plenty of problems ahead for sure, but there are also possibilities for renewal as well.

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