Towards an “ideal network” of cities

In a context of multiple crises with important urban dimensions, networks are an essential instrument of the international agenda of cities. They are, inter alia, a meeting place, a way of gaining access to knowledge and innovation,and a forum where strategies for political influence can be defined. At present, more than 200 international city networks comprise a rich, diverse and complex ecosystem. This profusion of networks on the international scale is causing tensions in a saturated system, which is sometimes unduly bureaucratised and not sufficiently oriented to results. There is an urgent need to strengthen the various kinds of political leadership, to open up these networks to new realities and voices, streamline their functioning, make them more flexible, and improve accountability concerning their impact in improving people’s quality of life.