Economic City Diplomacy
Economic development is today the strongest driver of city diplomacy—and it generally enjoys the broadest level of local and national political support. Economic city diplomacy mainly aims at providing cities with the tools to position themselves in the g
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Economic City Diplomacy
Abstract Economic development is today the strongest driver of city diplomacy—and it generally enjoys the broadest level of local and national political support. Economic city diplomacy mainly aims at providing cities with the tools to position themselves in the global competition to attract investments, companies, tourists, talents, students—and international events. Alongside this goal—symbolized by the spread of international rankings of city competitiveness—cities have put in place a number of economic cooperation practices, including knowledge exchange and the co-creation of joint programs. The chapter will analyze this apparent contradiction between economic competition and cooperation, and present the added value of the economic dimensional city diplomacy to cities of all sizes. The second part of the chapter will take into consideration the economic impact of hosting international events. Finally, the conclusions will offer an insight into the possible impact of COVID-19 to the economic component of city diplomacy. Keywords City diplomacy · Global cities · City competitiveness · Global cities · City rankings · Urban development · Global events · COVID-19
© The Author(s) 2020 L. Kihlgren Grandi, City Diplomacy, Cities and the Global Politics of the Environment, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60717-3_5
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L. KIHLGREN GRANDI
The Rise of Economic City Diplomacy The economic dimension of city diplomacy consists of a set of measures meant to reinforce economic relations with foreign actors and enhance local economic development. Since the 1990s, the relatively fast expansion of this diplomatic action is linked to the rising desire of municipalities to direct their international efforts toward those actions promising faster and easier return on investment. Just like national economic diplomacy, this component of municipal action generally features the dual goal of boosting economic growth and job creation and is used both to strengthen an already positive trend or to reverse economic stale or decline. While most city diplomacy dimensions are deeply grounded in solidarity and cooperation goals, the economic one mainly stems from local self-interest, even though notable exceptions exist. As a result, cities face the challenge of integrating this dimension in a coherent general city diplomacy strategy: how to connect international competitiveness-driven measures with the level of cooperation required for successful city diplomacy? How to link the desire of cities to climb economic hierarchies and the apparently conflictual goal of harnessing the potential of city-to-city partnerships in a plurality of fields—including economic development? As highlighted in Chapter 2, history teaches that cities’ desire to excel has always been coupled with the need for them to cooperate to prosper. City diplomacy represents the tool to provide cities with the direction to follow in order to solve this conundrum.
Winners and Losers of Globalization? The widespread belief that economic globalizati
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