Disputing the global: a sceptical view of locality-based international initiatives

Under the contemporary swell of globalisation, locality-based international initiatives are widely perceived as essential for the growth of city-regio ns. Absent such endeavours, city-regions are predicted to become uncompetit ive. We challenge this optimistic scenario. City-regions undertaking such e ndeavours confront relatively inflexible global hierarchies, must attend to daunting organisational and technical issues, and run the risk of upsettin g local political arrangements. We counsel caution and suggest that the dev elopment of local capacities take precedence over global pretensions.