Towards Reimagining the Autonomous City

Abstract

The past few decades have witnessed a significant rise in urban agglomeration driven by migratory patterns, economic opportunities, and improved healthcare. While only 10% of the global population resided in urban areas in the early 1900s, today, over half inhabit cities, with approximately 550 cities boasting populations exceeding one million. This trend is projected to continue, with an estimated 2.5 billion more people expected to live in urban areas within the next thirty years, raising the global urban population to 70%.

Despite their growing importance, cities lack constitutional recognition and autonomy, remaining dependent on federal or provincial governments for their existence and functioning. This dependency hinders their ability to address critical issues such as income inequality, housing, population density, immigration, and environmental challenges. Moreover, cities' progressive and diverse nature often clashes with national politics, which may not fully align with urban values and priorities. The solution of granting cities constitutional standing and greater autonomy has become a topic of both academic and political discourse.

This chapter explores the effectiveness of constitutional standing and greater autonomy in addressing these issues. By analyzing the performance of three highly autonomous cities—Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai—the chapter draws lessons and outlines the complexities and potential net-negatives of city autonomy. It also discusses the legal, political, and methodological hurdles in granting cities more autonomy, highlighting the rigidity of constitutional structures, the lack of political will, and the intricacies of defining and implementing municipal autonomy.  In turn, the chapter proposes a pragmatic approach to addressing urban challenges, focusing on enhancing representation and financial resources for cities within the existing governmental framework. This includes electoral reforms to better reflect urban demographics and adjustments in revenue allocation.

Keywords: Constitutional Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, City, Federalism, Mega City, Subsidarity, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Autonomy