Abstract: City identity can be examined from a number of political, economic and cultural perspectives including the way it has been perceived by residents and outsiders. While residents derive the city’s identity from their experience of it, for outsiders various branding schemes used to sell the city have an important role in constructing the identity. Sometimes the images viewed from the inside and the outside do not overlap. Insiders and outsiders may focus on certain aspects and images of a city and not see the complete picture. In places like the Gold Coast this may result in a prejudice against the city and investment and removal decisions may be made based on incomplete information. Utilising the case study of the Gold Coast Australia, this paper aims to discuss city identity and the role of branding in the formation of the city image and explore whether residents and tourists perceive city identity differently. The paper approaches a perspective of place identity that takes into account modern practices of place marketing and branding rather than experiential self-identity (as in Dovey et al., 2004; Proshansky et al., 1983). From a planning perspective, understanding city identity is highly important because a city’s identity forms the context from which planning policies, plans and decisions are made. However, if perception of this identity by outsiders is inaccurate attracting investment and residents will be challenging. The inherent polycentric nature of city or place identity further emphasises the need for those planning for the multiplicity of communities, suburbs, cities, regions and states to understand the context and basis of those within such places.