Urban Foreign Policy and Domestic Dilemmas: Insights from Swiss and EU City-regions [Paperback]

The book shows that the local economic setting, and the political response in developing international activities, are closely linked.City-regions have gained economic and political power in the process of globalisation. Many of them use this power to develop their own international activities. This book investigates why city-regions go global and the consequences of their newly gained self-confidence on the international scale. The book analyses Swiss and EU city-regions' international activities with seven in-depth case studies. The book shows that the local economic setting, and the political response in developing international activities, are closely linked. Not only has urban politics changed due to its international dimension, but also the interplay between the core city, the agglomeration communities, the regional, the national, and EU levels. Understanding the role of the EU in city-regions' international activities is crucial for comprehending recent trends in urban governance.CONTENTSAcknowledgments ivList of Figures and Tables viiList of Abbreviations ixIntroduction 1Networking city-regions in the new scalar order 1Research questions 3Chapter outline 4Chapter One: A Theory of Urban Foreign Policy 5Why do city-regions go global? 6From explaining city-regions international activitiesto intrascalar and interscalar changes 23Changes caused by city-regionsinternational activities 23A model of city-regions international activities 33Chapter Two: The Seven City-Regions Under Scrutiny 37Case selection 38Berne: a capital city with a national orientation 39Geneva: international city of peace and solidarity 49Lausanne: city of international sport 63Lucerne: partnerships for tourism 73Zurich: international banking and insurance 84Lyon: going global for the top fi fteen 99Stuttgart: global mobility 114A fi rst overview: the networks side 132Chapter Three: Why do City-Regions go Global? 137Globalisation and the rescaling of the state 137Varieties of capitalism andl3(