Internal city marketing: Positive activation of inhabitants through supported voluntarism

Abstract

Urban settlements which were planned and established during the socialist period either in their entirety or partially (in form of fast-growing districts) can be found all over Central and Eastern Europe. In most of them authorities have been fighting numerous economic and social problems, many either caused by, or stemming from, lack of social cohesion. One visible sign of such problems are neglected public spaces, often doomed to be in a poor condition due to lack of co-ordinated action. In this paper we demonstrate the importance of social capital and public administration’s courage and creativity when applying the tools of internal city marketing for what we call ‘supported voluntarism’ aimed at positive transformation of public spaces in a post-socialist residential neighbourhood using the Slovenian post-socialist city of Velenje as a showcase.

Keywords: internal city marketing, supported voluntarism, urban revitalisation