6. Cities and Internationality in North America and Beyond

As shown in Chap. 5, the external context plays an important role in shaping the ways in which cities consider, and engage with, the international arena. The particular characteristics of multi-level governance in the European Union, including an explicit support for both sub-national political entities and trans-border relations as part of the integration agenda, have had a major impact on encouraging cities and regions to become international actors. There are obvious variations to that, reflecting size, economic and political capacity and political leadership as well as public interest in doing so. On that basis, an international sphere of various city networks—either as collaborative associations, or as individual bilateral or multi-lateral engagements, has developed. In general, a picture emerges that shows a tendency for larger, metropolitan actors to act separately from smaller urban and non-urban places, either individually, using their enhanced municipal political and economic capital to set out and pursued an independent strategy of international engagement, to or do so in forms of ‘elitist’ groupings, such as large cities.