OPTIMAL ALLOCATION OF CITY MARKETING RESOURCES FROM A BIOECONOMY PERSPECTIVE: A LINEAR PROGRAMMING APPROACH

Abstract

This study aims to redesign urban marketing strategies by integrating bioeconomic sustainability principles into the allocation of city resources. While conventional urban marketing literature predominantly focuses on brand identity, image building, and promotional activities, this research introduces a bio-based linear optimization model that simultaneously maximizes economic efficiency, ecological resilience, and socio-cultural value creation. The model is constructed using city perception and satisfaction data from Kahramanmaraş, originally developed by Büyükbaş (2018), and incorporates bioeconomic contribution coefficients and social impact weights as decision parameters. Empirical results reveal that environment, gastronomy, and culture-tourism demonstrate the highest marginal bioeconomic returns, and reallocating resources toward these domains increases the city’s composite image and bioeconomic competitiveness score by 21%. Furthermore, a reduction in investments in transportation and traditional infrastructure corresponds with lower carbon emissions and enhances the city’s cyclical innovation capacity. These findings emphasize that urban marketing should not be treated solely as a promotional function but as a strategic decision-making process grounded in bioeconomy, circular development, and sustainability science. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a novel decision framework based on bioeconomic linear programming and offers practical insights for cities seeking to strengthen their sustainable competitiveness and transition toward regenerative urban systems.