City Diplomacy

180 Pages·2020·2.132 MB·English

by  Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi

CITIES AND THE GLOBAL POLITICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
SERIES EDITORS: MICHELE ACUTO
ELIZABETH RAPOPORT · JOANA SETZER
City Diplomacy
Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi
Cities and the Global Politics of the Environment
Series Editors
Michele Acuto
School of Design
University of Melbourne
London, UK
Elizabeth Rapoport
Urban Land Institute
London, UK
Joana Setzer
Grantham Research Institute
London School of Economics and Political
London, UK
Morethanhalfofhumanitylivesincities,andby2050thismightextend
to three quarters of the world’s population. Cities now have an unde-
niable impact on world affairs: they constitute the hinges of the global
economy, global information flows, and worldwide mobility of goods
and people. Yet they also represent a formidable challenge for the 21st
Century. Cities are core drivers not only of this momentous urbanisa-
tion, but also have a key impact on the environment, human security and
the economy. Building on the Palgrave Pivot initiative, this series aims
at capturing these pivotal implications with a particular attention to the
impact of cities on global environmental politics, and with a distinctive
cross-disciplinary appeal that seeks to bridge urban studies, international
relations, and global governance. In particular, the series explores three
themes: 1) What is the impact of cities on the global politics of the envi-
ronment? 2) To what extent can there be talk of an emerging ‘global
urban’ as a set of shared characteristics that link up cities worldwide?
3) How do new modes of thinking through the global environmental
influence of cities help us to open up traditional frames for urban and
international research?
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14897
Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi
City Diplomacy
Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi
Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA)
Paris, France
Cities and the Global Politics of the Environment
ISBN 978-3-030-60716-6 ISBN 978-3-030-60717-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60717-3
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Acknowledgments
ThisbookoriginatesfromthecitydiplomacycoursesIhavebeenteaching
at Sciences Po since 2016 and at the École Polytechnique since 2019. I
wish to thank the two universities for the opportunity to introduce such
a new discipline in their world-renowned curricula on international rela-
tions and urban studies, respectively. Moreover, this book owns a debt of
gratitude to my students in both universities, whose active participation,
questions and remarks have contributed to the success of my teaching
and, hitherto, this book.
I am very thankful to many practitioners of city diplomacy with whom
I have had the pleasure to discuss the framework of the research for
this book. I would like to thank in particular: Gudrun Niedorf and
Marc Kiwitt from the European Committee of the Regions; Emmanuelle
Pinault of C40; Mauricio Rodas of U20; Monica Dragone, Silvia La
Ferla, Gianfranco Commodaro and Andrea Magarini of the Municipality
of Milan; Ivana D’Alessandro of the Council of Europe’s Intercultural
Cities; Simina Lazar of ASToN; Marco Minicucci and Alessandro Carlini
ofMilano&Partners;PatriziannaSparacino-ThiellayoftheCityofParis;
Sufian Mushasha of UNDP; Camille Benoist of Délice Network; Pierre
Baillet of Association Internationale des Maires Francophones (AIMF);
SannevanAmerongenofVNGInternational;Simoned’AntonioofAsso-
ciazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani (ANCI); Karin Tingstedt of the City
of Malmö; Kim Spiegelberg Stelzer of the City of Copenhagen, Miriam
Zamparella of the City of Florence, Natalia Boitot of the City of Warsaw.
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Finally, I would like to thank Giuliano Pisapia, former mayor of
Milan (2011–2016) and my former boss, for his inspiring leadership in
combining universal values and local interests in a bold city diplomacy
strategy.
Contents
1 City Diplomacy: A Strategic Choice 1
2 The Historical, Legal, and Geographic Evolution
of City Diplomacy 37
3 Decentralized Cooperation 53
4 City Diplomacy for Peace 69
5 Economic City Diplomacy 83
6 Smart City Diplomacy 97
7 Environmental City Diplomacy 111
8 Cultural City Diplomacy 123
9 City Diplomacy and Migration 137
vii
viii CONTENTS
Afterword 151
Bibliography 153
Index 171
CHAPTER 1
City Diplomacy: A Strategic Choice
Abstract Thischapteraimstointroducecitydiplomacyasbothapractice
and a field of research. After having described the purpose and structure
of the book, it will provide a definition of the city, and an overview of
themaingoalsmotivatingitsinternationalaction.Itwillthenpresentthe
tools through which city diplomacy is practiced, namely bilateral agree-
ments, networks, projects, events, and advocacy campaigns. Finally, it
will present the core components of a city’s international strategy, taking
into due consideration its preconditions and the main challenges in its
implementation.
Keywords City · Global city · City diplomacy · Twinning agreement ·
Cooperation agreement · City network · International advocacy · City
diplomat · Mayor
Introduction
Afterhavingspentcenturiesatthemarginsofinternationalrelations,cities
appear today among the protagonists of world politics. What happened?
Across the world, cities have created new spaces for their international
action, partially subverting the traditional hierarchies and sometimes
© The Author(s) 2020 1
L. Kihlgren Grandi, City Diplomacy, Cities and the Global
Politics of the Environment,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60717-3_1