Catching the whale: A comparison of place promotion strategies through the lens of Amazon HQ2

Abstract

Identifying potential sites for firm relocation or expansion is a negotiated process that involves both firms and localities. Some firms focus on profit enhancement through cost minimization, while others seek qualities that maximize talent attraction and benefit corporate identity. Simultaneously, localities seek to maximize the economic welfare for residents through job creation and place‐based economic development strategies. The purpose of this work is to examine how localities use place promotion strategies to attract relocating or expanding firms based on analysis of proposals submitted by communities in response to the 2017 Amazon HQ2 Request for Proposals. Our results support literature streams that argue quality of life and talent attraction, as well as cost are priorities for place‐based economic development strategies. We present a complete picture of place promotion strategies that localities use to differentiate themselves and avoid competing only on cost in the competitive marketplace of corporate recruiting.

THE(CULTURAL)WAR OF THE WORLDS: Framing Urban Redevelopment as ‘Terraforming’

“…Countries around the world instate residency through investment policies that grant citizenship in exchange for contributions to the country's social and cultural development. Even in the wake of rejection to be the host city for a new Amazon warehouse, municipalities adapt their locales with Amazon's feedback in mind (Sisson, 2017; Nager et al ., 2019).…”

Why government supported smart city initiatives fail: Examining community risk and benefit agreements as a missing link to accountability for equity-seeking groups

“…In agreement with (Gupta, 2019), due to the nature of the organization and its technology implementation practices, the Amazon HQ2 narrative should be viewed through a multifaceted smart city framework, and not simply as corporation securing a physical location in a city. Amazon held a worldwide competition for a city to host its second headquarters, HQ2 (Nager et al, 2019). Hundreds of cities participated in the request for proposal, and twenty cities were short listed including New York and Toronto (Bisnow., 2018).…”

Urban geography 1: ‘Big tech’ and the reshaping of urban space

“…Interestingly, one of the solutions proposed by the likes of Brookings has been the creation, through public policy, of innovation districts. Perhaps the most striking recent example of this, certainly in the North American context, was Amazon's highly publicized search for a second headquarters, documented by Nager et al (2019) and Zukin (2020b). This process, which saw municipalities large and small scramble to promote and incentivize their locational benefits, reveals that the long-established literature on place marketing and inward investment remains highly relevant in explaining a boosterism that exists around innovation districts (Nathan et al, 2019).…”