Ma`rifat Hoghoughi

City branding is a process in which selected images related to cultural features, architecture, legal systems, economic opportunities, or moral values are attributed to a city in order to create an attractive identity for different audiences. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to explain the negative and positive bilateral effects of city branding on human rights with an analytical-critical approach and relying on human rights literature and urban studies. The analysis of numerous objective cases in the research shows that city branding acts like a double-edged sword. That is, it has both negative effects (violation of human rights) and positive effects (strengthening and promotion of human rights). The results of the study confirm that by adopting the procedure for assessing the human rights impacts of urban projects, the guiding framework for creating a human rights city, the "human rights cities" approach, the "minimal/maximal" theoretical model of Shaham-Maimon, and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute indicators, a normative and operational strategy was achieved for the transition from destructive branding to branding based on dignity, justice, participation, and human rights.