Explaining Articulating the Effective Factors in the Urban Branding: A Case Study of Shiraz City

Today, city brand creation and retention is a main consideration for urban managers and is an issue if being successful could bring welfare, prosperity and happiness for the citizens as well as keeping the cities alive. The first step towards creating a city brand is recognizing the factors that are effective and play a role. The purpose of this research is to review the effective key factors in the creation of city brand of Shiraz city. In order to analyze the research data, statistical techniques of structural equations modeling, including a combination of path diagram and confirmatory factor analysis, have been used. The findings show that the variables forming the model for creating the city brand of the Shiraz, in order of preference and rank, include: historical, religious and cultural heritage, tourism attractions, transportation and communications infrastructures, service range, environment, creditable educational centers, international status, urban culture, social issues, and the last one is business opportunities.