The notion of place brand appears in many countries, cities, regions and towns. Despite the place names and symbols that are conventionally used for administrative purposes, the reason behind the worldwide establishment of place brand is to enable bet... The notion of place brand appears in many countries, cities, regions and towns. Despite the place names and symbols that are conventionally used for administrative purposes, the reason behind the worldwide establishment of place brand is to enable better recognition of a place amidst heightened international competition through improved and reinforced communication as well as overcoming any negative associations. Many places also aim to differentiate themselves and find their uniqueness as the world becomes standardized through the fast movement of resources, information and people. Place brand is used for the strategic symbolizing and communication of comprehensive cultures and values that the society has accumulated within a certain physical location. As place is a basis of life that has been shared by residents and visitors, it requires wide consensus and collaboration. When building place brand in reality, however, it is not easy to communicate with the many stakeholders at hand. At times, various obstacles can lead to the short-term performance of the plan. The fact that place consists of many factors that have their own features and conditions make it difficult to grasp a full understanding of place brand. Therefore, it is not easy to achieve effective place branding, which reflect the identity of place and contribute to the place development. Based on the theoretical background that place is a socially constructed entity with complexity and publicity, and that brand is a form of social communication, this study aims to analyze place brand with social system theory. It also aims to establish a place brand system design framework to reflect the ambience of a place and contribute to the place. To this end, the study divides place brand into two concepts of place and brand to identify, and investigated their periodical transition. Then, it elicited the grounds for applying Luhmann’s social system theory to the research on place brand. System is defined as an invisible mechanism underneath the repeated pattern or event and interconnected components to operate together as an entire unity. It can be categorized into the following: biological system, mechanic system, psychic system, and social system. This study is based on the social system theory of Niklas Luhmann who explained society with the concept of biological system. According to Luhmann, social system is only constructed with communication and this results in its autopoietic operation. Consequently, place, place brand, and stakeholders were reinterpreted into system and construct a triad relationship. The study also looks into the design scope and methodology needed for place brand system communication, based on which the place brand system design framework has been elicited. It reveals the relationship between multi-contextual functional systems of a place and psychic systems of various stakeholders when place brand is constructed. The system also shows the role and structure of design to enable communication. As a result, place brand identity design, a system design, helps the coupling of all elements to are involved in the communication system as well as structural coupling between the systems. For practical investigation, representative nations and cities were analyzed in this research. The study confirmed that brand identity design facilitated the autopoietic communication of the systems. Place brands like 'Germany, Land of Ideas’, ‘This is GREAT Britain’, ‘be Berlin’, ‘& Tokyo’ define the uniqueness of each places through different slogans and operate their systems. Moreover, different types of design activities for communication help to integrate the potentials in the environment as factors within the system. Finally, the research suggests a framework of place brand system design which is autopoietic in nature. The system uses four types of coupling when conducting its autopoietic operation. Such design activities for brand constitute a system design, in which various design organically structured and circulated. The system design flowchart can help explain the process of design brand communication. As an integrator that deals with all designs within such system, the designers are also expected to play the role of planner and stimulator to facilitate the participatory design involving stakeholders. The significance of this research is that it explained the place brand through the application of social system theory, and suggested a system design structure that integrates brand communication. In practical perspective, the study provides a basis to examine the coupling types needed to facilitate communication and clearly define the concept of place brand. Consequently, the place brand system can enable autopoietic operation and reconstruction through the coupling of various factors. The continuous reproduction of boundaries through the operation of place brand system can promote social integration and differentiate a place from other places externally. Such procedures can ultimately reconstruct the environment of the brand system, and thus contribute to the development of the place and enhancing its image.
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