06 October 2021
Urban Legacies of 9/11: An International Law Perspective
From the perspective of an international lawyer, the urban dimension of the attacks of 9/11 is conspicuously absent from most of the debates. Yet, there is a hidden story underneath the bigger geopolitical picture and its international legal implications that most of the contributions to this symposium discuss. The 9/11 attacks went for urban symbols that were at the same time global symbols; in the wave of terrorism that followed cities both in the Global North and Global South were the target – physically, politically and culturally. Security is increasingly understood as an urban issue. Continue reading >>
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06 October 2021
Urban Legacies des 11. September: Eine völkerrechtliche Perspektive
Diese urbane Dimension der Anschläge vom 11. September wird in den meisten völkerrechtlichen Debatten auffällig wenig berücksichtigt. Jedoch verbirgt sich hinter den größeren geopolitischen Entwicklungen und den damit verbunden völkerrechtlichen Auswirkungen, eine weitere Geschichte. Die Anschläge vom 11. September 2001 zielten auf urbane Symbole ab, die gleichzeitig globale Symbole waren; in der darauffolgenden Terrorismuswelle waren Städte sowohl im globalen Norden als auch im globalen Süden das Ziel - physisch, politisch und kulturell. Sicherheit wird zunehmend als ein urbanes Thema verstanden. Continue reading >>
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31 January 2020
In Defence of Multilevel Citizenship – A Rejoinder
The twenty-two responses to Rainer Bauböck's proposal for strengthening urban citizenship suggest two general lessons. First, there is more common ground than expected. None of the authors defends a strong statist view that would not leave any space for a conversation about citizenship at the local level. Second, in spite of its long premodern pedigree, the idea of urban citizenship seems still so new that it needs to be fleshed out in more detail. Conceptual confusion makes it hard to distinguish misunderstanding from disagreement, so the most urgent task now seems to be clarification. Continue reading >>
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30 January 2020
A Political Promise or a Hollow Hope?
If one accepts the proposition that control of the gates is a core feature of state-centred citizenship, what can be the legal implications of urban citizenship, in addition to the ones that already exist? Continue reading >>
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30 January 2020
Citizenship Federalism and the Ambiguous Promise of Local Citizenship
Kenneth Stahl argues that many countries such as the United States already have a form of “citizenship federalism,” in which local (not specifically urban) citizenship, based on residence, exists alongside national citizenship, rooted in nationality. Continue reading >>
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30 January 2020
Does Urban Citizenship Promote Inclusion for the Poor, Sick, and Outcast?
The assumption is that nation-states often undervalue potential immigrants and that cities would better value their potential contributions. Because citizenship involves not only inclusion but also exclusion, however, there are dangers to proposals such as Bauböck’s that “cities should determine who their citizens are independently of how states do this.” Continue reading >>
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29 January 2020
‘Urban Citizenship’ in a Multipolar World
On 23 January 2020, the government of the People’s Republic of China imposed a quarantine on the central Chinese city of Wuhan, population eleven million. Stephen Minas reinforces the cautionary trend in this debate over the merits and prospects of ‘urban citizenship’. Continue reading >>
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29 January 2020
Urban Citizenship – a Status or a Practice?
Helmut Aust reflects on the role of law in this discourse. The answer one might give to the question of decoupling citizenship from the state would arguably also depend on one’s disciplinary perspective. It is easier to think outside of the box from the perspective of political theory, political philosophy, and history than it is from the perspective of the law. Continue reading >>
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28 January 2020
Urban Agglomeration, Constitutional Silence
Urban citizenship is a bold and intriguing idea, regardless of whether we envision it as an alternative or as a complement to extant models of state-based membership. However, this concept seems to be slightly off target in identifying the main issue of city under-representation, namely the constitutional non-existence of cities, and more generally, the great constitutional silence surrounding today’s extensive urbanization and the consequent rise of megacities. Continue reading >>
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28 January 2020
The Next Step: Coupling City-zenship to Human Rights
Should urban citizenship be emancipated from national citizenship? Barbara Oomen points at the international human rights framework for three reasons: (1) This is where local authorities are already looking for inspiration; (2) the legal framework of human rights offers an added value in meeting some of the underlying objectives of city-zenship; and (3) it could mitigate concerns legitimately raised in earlier contributions. Continue reading >>
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