Dr. Ares Kalandides has worked as an urban planner and consultant in the field of urban development and place marketing in Berlin since 1990. He has implemented numerous projects on a national and international level and consulted various districts, cities, and regions in Germany and worldwide. Since 1996, he has been an advisor to Berlin Partner GmbH, the marketing organisation of Germany’s capital city.

His experience is regularly sought after by decision makers. He is a member of the Commission on Urban Development at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Berlin and director of the Institute of Place Management in Manchester. He initiated the workshop series “governance of creative industries” at the Georg Simmel Centre for Metropolitan Studies at Humboldt University Berlin and became the President of the Board of the Association for Place Branding & Public Diplomacy in 2010.

In addition to his scientific publications on place management and branding, creative industries, urban development, place identity, and local economy, he is an editorial member of the Journal of Place Management and Development. In 2008, Ares Kalandides initiated the International Place Branding Conference Series, which has been conceptualised and organised by INPOLIS in various countries.

Born 1965 in Athens (Greece), Ares Kalandides graduated in Romance Studies, completed a post-graduate programme in urban and regional planning and holds a PhD from the National Technical University of Athens. His research articles in the field of urban studies have been published in internationally renowned scientific journals. He has also taught at different universities in Europe, North and Latin America. His research focuses mostly on the topics of place identities, local economy and migration.

Ares Kalandides is the editor of Berlin Design (Verlagshaus Braun, 2010) and co-editor of Governance der Kreativwirtschaft. Diagnosen und Handlungsoptionen (Transcript-Verlag, 2009). Furthermore, he contributed to the white paper Kulturelle Vielfalt gestalten. Handlungsempfehlungen aus der Zivilgesellschaft zur Umsetzung des UNESCO-Übereinkommen zur Vielfalt kultureller Ausdrucksformen (2005) in und durch Deutschland (German UNESCO Commission, 2009).