City Networks and the Glocalization of Urban Governance

Abstract

Cities and their networks are now decisively established as influential global actors in the difficult task of governing the globe, and their views and opinions are incorporated into many multilateral (nation-state led) and unilateral (city-led) agendas and policies ranging from climate to migration. Yet, the question of how city activism specifically translates into tangible policy and, in some cases legal, outcomes, at the global level remains unanswered. Questions also remain about whether our current international system, whether de facto or de jure, can genuinely incorporate the views of actors other than nations and the most powerful economic actors. Nevertheless, instances of bottom-up city networking and international law-making continue to multiply and cities and their networks continue the hard work of piercing the historically states-only veil of international politics in ways that make the critical role of cities in global governance not just a topic of scholarly debate, but an indisputable reality.

Keywords: city networking, local government, urban governance, international local government law