Place branding has grown in popularity since the late 1990s with endeavours to construct an image or message of a place, communicate and effectively manage it. Place branding has mainly been directed towards the customers who are predominantly tourists. However, recent calls advocate considering the perspectives of other stakeholders, in particular residents, in the place branding process. This paper proposes and evaluates an exploratory enquiry to understand place identity through the perspectives of residents, in other words participatory place branding. The study is based in stakeholder theory. The literature highlighted the following factors: personal factors, cognitive evaluations, envisioned future as well as affective evaluations. A comprehensive questionnaire was developed, tested and used in a survey that was administered to residents in the city of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The survey was completed by 3659 residents, and the results show that the respondents had a uniform view of the city’s identity and its attributes, including being homely, safe, affordable, friendly and good for families.