City Networks

The following chapter overviews city networks as a prominent form of paradiplomatic practice, tracing their evolution, current challenges, and possible futures. Defined as formalized organizations primarily comprising municipal governments, city networks have become central actors in global governance, particularly in fields such as climate change, resilience, migration, and urban inequality. The chapter highlights their institutional growth since the 1990s and the increasing involvement of philanthropy and multilateral institutions in supporting such networks. However, it also stresses significant limitations: a lack of coordination across scales of governance, fragmented global urban governance, and the persistent absence of national and international institutionalization of city diplomacy. Furthermore, the growing complexity and proliferation of city networks have led to a “lock-in” effect, posing challenges for smaller cities with limited capacity and resources. The chapter calls for a broader conceptualization of urban networking, including trans-local initiatives driven by civil society and non-governmental actors. The paper concludes by reflecting on whether we have reached a critical turning point, or even “peak city diplomacy”, and argues that future city networks must adapt to a changing geopolitical landscape marked by nationalism, municipal financial crises, and competing pressures from global and local dynamics. A “fourth generation” of city diplomacy may need to emerge, more focused, inclusive, and resilient.