I recently listened to mahalo.com CEO Jason Calacanis speak about his business on the LISNews podcast (audio can be found here). One of the more interesting things I pulled from this interview was his assessment of making money online. Making the money, he says, is easy if you can get traffic to your site. That takes branding, and branding is the answer to the question of how urban planning relates to web success.

Over history, American cities have gone through phases of roles. From the earliest cities that were built with high walls to protect from the uncertainties of the wilderness of the New World, to the bustling industrial cities like Detroit and Pittsburgh that were centers of the economy in the early 20th century, to the modern forms of today's centers of technology and finance, all cities have been defined by their role.

For today's cities, especially those hit hardest by the decline in heavy industry, defining that role is becomming increasingly important. A city's brand, as it were, can become the strongest driving force in the local economy. Seattle and San Francisco have branded themselves as hubs of computer and information technology. San Francisco also has a brand of being accepting of alternate lifestyles, which can be one of the greatest brands a city can have today (see Richard Florida's creative class). Los Angeles will always have movies and celebrity glamour as its brand, and continues to attract people for that reason. Even smaller cities like Paducah, KY are benefitting from branding, as their hit planning initiative, the Artist Relocation Program, has gained national recognition, and pulled in artists looking for a place that will welcome and inspire them.

Just as an internet startup or a new blog reaches out to the internet for eyeballs and site traffic by providing a quality product and recognizable brand, cities reach out nationally by offering their brands, providing their own special perks for those that are looking for a better place to live.