City's images in the media

Every day, before I go to my work or my lectures, I usually read the newspaper. Most of the time, I am in a hurry, so I only quickly read the articles that draw my attention. When I am in the train to my destination, I often read another free newspaper that can be found somewhere on, under or above my seat. This pattern occurs now for quite some years. By doing this, I form a lot of images about events in places I have never been and never really heard about. The perceptions that I have of such places, will therefore be strongly influenced by the media. These perceptions will surely influence my decisions, even if the place is much closer to home. A good example of such a place is the Palenstein district in my place of residence, Zoetermeer. I do not like to come there, though I do not really know why. Of course, I hear a lot of negative stories about the district and I read the negative messages in the newspapers; but every time I have been there, I never saw any of the social problems or the unsafety of which Palenstein is known. But still, because of these negative perceptions I have of Palenstein, I would not pass through the district if I don’t have to and I would rather not live there. A lot of choices that you make that decide whether you want to live in, visit or do business in a city, are dependent on the current images of the place. Therefore, many decision-makers of cities think it’s important for them to discover these images. This is also true for Haarlemmermeer, where I had an internship that enabled me to prepare my thesis. This period was both fun and very interesting to me and I would like to thank my supervisor Debby de Rijk for bringing me to all of the interesting facets of the city marketing process. The one day I was handing out flyers amongst the local residents, while the other day I was interviewing commuters on Schiphol or I was on a network-event amongst the upper class of the business environment of Haarlemmermeer. All of the other interesting people I have met there (especially Arthur van Dijk (alderman of city marketing affairs), Chris, Laura, Michiel and Remco) thank you all for your cooperation and the good time I had. Especially, I’d like to thank Erik Braun for his helpful supervision of this thesis. I was in the privileged position of having my supervisor working just on the opposite of my own desk. Furthermore, I’d like to thank my parents, who have always believed in me and had to tolerate a great deal for all my study hours at night. And finally, this is my last regret to my dear girlfriend Nelleke. She was hoping for me to have all the time of the world for her, on the day that she’s returned from her tour to Australia. Nelleke, I’m all yours again. My internship, my thesis, my study: it is finished… Enjoy reading! Bart van de Velde Zoetermeer, October 2008