Sustainable DNA of place: Culture, commodity, competition

City DNA is a term used to describe the elements that make up the city’s uniqueness that is useful in understanding the development of a city’s competitive ability from the past, at present and for the future, using the experiences of a city in the past and present that it has been through. This study applies a descriptive qualitative method that tries to provide an overview of the city’s DNA in a part of the cosmopolitan city of Semarang in Indonesia in order to explain empirical facts that persisted since the past and currently occur in several parts of the city that at first glance look very different from one another. The discovery of the various elements that make up the city’s DNA and their relationship with each other is a concept for the formulation of sustainable, outstanding universal value (OUV) and fostering the ability to compete in cities that are also sustainable. The sustainable DNA of a Place depends on Culture, Commodity & Competition. The paper describes the relationship between those 3 crucial components, which form the unique DNA that is persisting from the past to the future. The DNA nucleus remains (constant), while the 3C, which “encloses” the core, is dynamic and can adapt to situations. The ability to adjust is the strength and ability (competitive advantage) of the place.