The Role of Local Governments in City Branding

The Definition And The Concepts Of Local Government

The economic liberalism, globalization and more recently the economic crises are generally the phenomena leading to changes of territorial administrative practices.

The local government process has started because of the United Nations’ negotiations about the local environment and development in 1970s. This platform had explained the importance and the performance of the local administration on the infrastructural and local administrative structures of the UN countries. Stockholm Conference in 1972 was the starting point for these efforts and made a strong effect on The Rio Environment and Development Conference and Rio Charter in 1992.

The concept of Global Agenda 21 that was a global plan for the 21st century was realized. Each country had to prepare its own Global Agenda and Local Agenda 21 plan at a local administration level. Turkey, for example, completed its National Agenda 21, finished its report in 2000 under the control of The Environment Ministry, and put Local Agenda 21 directions to practice in various local governments with the Project financed by the UN (Danis & Albayraktaroglu, 2009, p. 91).

Local government is generally defined, as “a sub-national level of central government, which has jurisdiction over a limited range of state function, within a defined geographical area which is part of a larger territory” (Miller, 2002, p. 3).