Place brand as an emergent property: The case of Vascitour and Naples

In this paper, by adopting a systemic framework, we argue that place's adaptive connotation be considered as a mere result of endogenous processes but as a viable system that will remain viable if it can continue to answer the needs of its numerous heterogeneous internal and external socio-economic agents. Place can be seen as a complex adaptive system characterized by a more or less planned evolution, driven by both top-down and bottom-up processes, and composed of various interconnecting parts that, at the same time, can be seen as wholes at different levels as an holoarchy. The model of the holoarchy allows to consider the place as the result of both planned and spontaneous relationships between social and economic (sub)systems and components, implemented in order to achieve a common goal. We than apply this framework to the analysis of a case study in the tourism industry in Naples (Italy).