The Global City 2.0: From Strategic Site to Global Actor (Cities and Global Governance)

Book Details

• Author: Kristin Ljungkvist

• Publisher: Routledge

• Language: English

• Edition: 1

• ISBN: 9780815370314

• Pages: 232

• Cover: Paperback

• Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.0 x 0.5 inches

About the Book

The Global City 2.0 explores the evolving role of global cities in the international political landscape, focusing on their increasing participation in global politics and affairs. While much has been written about global cities’ economic roles, this book shifts focus to understand their independent political authority. Despite traditionally being the domain of nation-states, local governments in global cities now assert their own foreign and security policies, a development that has not been thoroughly examined until now.

In this book, Kristin Ljungkvist argues that understanding why global cities’ local governments claim international political authority requires an exploration of how the city's role in the globalized world is constructed and narrated locally. She asserts that Global City-hood, as a collective identity, plays a significant role in shaping this political authority.

Through a case study of New York City, Ljungkvist introduces a new analytical framework for studying global cities as international political actors. The book demonstrates how global cities engage in global issues like environmental governance and counterterrorism while rationalizing their actions through the lens of economic growth. Though the pursuit of growth and global competitiveness dominates the conception of the global city, the book also highlights the persistence of economistic ideas in framing the city’s political engagement.

The Global City 2.0 provides a fresh perspective on global cities' roles in contemporary governance, making it an essential resource for scholars in International Relations, Urban Studies, and Political Science, as well as anyone interested in the intersections of local governance and global politics.