City Leaders Go Abroad: A Survey of City Diplomacy in 47 Cities

Kosovac, Anna; Hartley, Kris; Acuto, Michele; Gunning, Darcy

doi:10.1080/08111146.2021.1886071

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…While older networks, such as Eurocities (established in 1986), were a result of the international, collaborative municipalist movement and therefore only accessible to local governments (Payre, 2010), more recently established networks such as C40 have been characterised by strategic public–private governance arrangements and multi-stakeholderism (Abdullah and Garcia-Chueca, 2020; Curtis and Acuto, 2018). Due to the plurality of actors that have become involved in city diplomacy practices, Acuto et al (2018) recently defined the concept as ‘the conduct of external relations undertaken by official representatives of cities with other actors, particularly other cities, nation-states, nongovernmental organizations and corporations’ (repeated in Kosovac et al, 2020: 6).…”

Section: City Diplomacy: Definition and Development Of A Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

An economic geography perspective on city diplomacy

2023

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City officials increasingly maintain relations with foreign stakeholders, both public and private, a practice that is generally referred to as city diplomacy. In the past, city diplomacy activities focused on bilateral cultural and knowledge exchanges. Although this type of collaboration still exists, contemporary city diplomacy has become more dynamic and diverse, and increasingly includes an economic dimension. In addition, many cities currently prioritise becoming involved in a variety of multilateral inter-urban networks. Despite wide-ranging conversations on the challenges and opportunities of these new types of city diplomacy, theoretical reflections regarding the underlying processes and the potential consequences remain largely absent from the literature. In this article, we argue that the city diplomacy literature can therefore be enriched by engaging with concepts and debates developed in economic geography in two main ways. We first elaborate on contemporary varieties of urban entrepreneurialism and the extent to which these correspond with city diplomacy practices. We argue that city diplomacy contains elements of both traditional entrepreneurialism and managerialism. Second, we look at city diplomacy through the lens of uneven development, hypothesising that city diplomacy may entail a self-reinforcing effect in terms of enhancing socio-spatial differences between ‘superstar cities’ and ‘places that do not matter’ respectively.

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Section: City Diplomacy: Definition and Development Of A Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

An economic geography perspective on city diplomacy

2023

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“…Five of the nine targets have a direct link to climate change and the environment generally. These are areas where cities have a significant current policy focus, as is reflected in recent studies (Kosovac et al, 2020b). Cities around the globe are increasingly facing sustainability challenges, including rapid urbanization leading to unsustainable housing.…”

Section: Lorekmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environment in Global Sustainability Governance

2023

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after conducting research on the relation between climate science and politics at Harvard University's program on science, technology and society. His research interests include environmental governance, power relations and the politicization of climate change. Jens is the author of How Power Shapes Energy Transitions in Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2017) and coeditor of Governing Climate Change in Southeast Asia (Taylor & Francis, 2021), and has published articles about non-state climate action, populism and the imagination.

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“…While the study of cities has long played a minor role in the academic field of international relations (IR), the last two decades have seen growing interest in city diplomacy among IR and urban scholars (e.g., Aldecoa and Keating 1999;van der Pluijm 2007;Alger 2011;Barber 2014;Curtis 2014Curtis , 2016Ljungkvist 2014Ljungkvist , 2016Acuto and Rayner 2016;Oosterlynck et al 2019;Kosovac et al 2020;Pejic 2020;Kihlgren Grandi 2020;Acuto and Leffel 2021;Pejic and Acuto 2022). City diplomacy can be defined as "the institutions and processes by which cities, or local governments in general, engage in relations with actors on an international political stage with the aim of representing themselves and their interests" (van der Pluijm 2007, 6) Migration scholars, in turn, have been addressing city engagement at national and regional levels but rarely focus on the global level (e.g., Hepburn and Zapata-Barrero 2014;Dekker et al 2015;Filomeno 2017;Campomori and Caponio 2017;Oomen 2020;Caponio 2019;Bazurli, Caponio and de Graauw 2022).…”

Section: Networking Is Everything -The Rise Of City Diplomacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“All the World's a Stage?” A Role Theory Analysis of City Diplomacy in Global Migration Governance

Stürner-Siovitz

2022

International Migration Review

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In 2018, cities from Africa, Europe, North, and South America officially submitted input to the state-led negotiations of the Global Compact for Migration. In the same year, the Mayors Mechanism was established within the Global Forum on Migration and Development, and in 2019, cities made pledges to localize the Global Compact on Refugees. At first sight, this engagement seems surprising, given that migration and displacement are mostly areas of national decision making. How, then, did it become possible for cities to claim a role in global migration governance? And how do cities attempt to play this role? While cities as integration actors have received growing academic attention, it is time to focus on city agency in global migration governance. To explore this phenomenon, this article introduces role theory to research on city diplomacy in migration studies. The analysis shows that the combination of the glocalized representation of migration challenges (linking the local and global levels), the glocal role claimed by cities, and the passive role attributed to nation-states can empower cities to demand an active role in global migration governance. Cities draw on this role to promote three forms of city diplomacy as adequate and feasible actions on the global stage: advocating for rights-based migration policies; striving to gain access to international funding and cooperation partners; and demanding a seat at intergovernmental negotiation tables. In closing, the article reflects on the risks and constraints of city diplomacy in global migration governance and shows directions for future research.

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City Leaders Go Abroad: A Survey of City Diplomacy in 47 Cities

Cited by 14 publications

References 38 publications

An economic geography perspective on city diplomacy

An economic geography perspective on city diplomacy

The Environment in Global Sustainability Governance

“All the World's a Stage?” A Role Theory Analysis of City Diplomacy in Global Migration Governance

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