1. This project has received funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 605728 Selling (off) Diversity: The Governance of Ethnic Business Districts in Transatlantic Comparison In a comparative study of Berlin and Toronto, urban branding strategies that aim on the production of ethnic neighborhoods will be analyzed. These strategies have to be seen as tools of neoliberal urban development, which led to a proactive attitude towards the branding of ethno-cultural diversity. I place the project in the branding discourse and refer to (re-)scaling as analytical concept as it serves to contrast strategies and programs by different involved actors and their dynamic interaction. Methods Neighborhood policies, local policies and globally circulating approaches will be studied in a scalar perspective. Thereby, I ask about the contradiction of the political objective of branding and the actual requirements of migrant entrepreneurs as target group. The project is based on a combined document and literature analysis which is empirically complemented by qualitative interviews with communal politicians, BIA- managers, planners, migrant entrepreneurs and residents. Research Objectives The proposed study intends a systematic analysis of urban policies in Toronto and Berlin. The main question is: In what way do processes of neoliberal urban development provoke the transformation of former integration policies into branding strategies? The first part of the research is based on a policy ‐ centered analysis, which focuses on questions such as: How do global/national/municipal/sub ‐ municipal policies and approaches influence the branding of diversity in the form of migrant entrepreneurship? The second part comprises an actor ‐ centered analysis, asking: How do branding policies affect the branded objects? Fig. 1: Exhibition „City of Diversity“, October 2012, Berlin (author‘s photo) The cases Contrasting to a long lasting tradition of neighborhood branding through Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) in Toronto, I show that Berlin only recently turned from a reactive to a resource- oriented approach towards migration. Berlin still misses a suitable legal and political basis for the commodification of ethno-cultural diversity. This is reflected in a targeted improvement of ethnically bounded BIAs in Toronto compared to non-ethnicized local initiatives for di-verse neighborhoods in Berlin. Sources: Glick Schiller N, Çağlar A. 2009. Towards a Comparative Theory of Locality in Migration Studies: Migrant Incorporation and City Scale. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35 : 177–202 Fig. 4: Current and former website of Dong Xuan Center Berlin: “They belong to the worlds‘ capitals – the economical flourishing Chi- natowns. Hence, they function as a role model for the further exten- sion of the DXC, the Asian centre for trade, culture and tourism in Berlin” (author’s translation, http://.dongxuan-berlin.de/asia-town.html) Fig. 3: Marketing of Toronto BIA Gerrard India Bazaar (http://plethorapress.typepad.com)