International Political Activity of Megacities as an Object of Political Urbanism

Introduction. This article examines the international political activities of megacities as an object of political urban studies and a source of significant resources for achieving urban policy goals. Political urban studies is an emerging and developing subdiscipline of political science, and the international political activities of megacities are a highly specific political process, carried out outside the standard administrative-hierarchical structure of “municipalityregionstate,” which determines the relevance of this study. Methods and materials. The methodological basis of the article consists of a systemic, structural-functional analysis and an inductive method. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is represented by approaches to the concepts of neoliberalism and transregionalism. The source base of the article includes modern works of Russian and foreign urbanists, sociologists, and political scientists, and statistical data from official information resources of municipalities. Analysis. This article examines several areas of megacities’ international political activity related to their involvement in transnational global networks, the paradiplomatic activities of large urban centers, and the formation and promotion of local identities. The capital city factor and the city-state phenomenon are significant factors in achieving megacity local policy goals. For the purposes of this study, the term “megacity” was defined through the prism of involvement in international political processes. Results. The study showed that the urban policy of a megacity, depending on the position of the official government leader, as well as the nature of the relationship between the center and sub-state territorial entities, may thus differ from the position of the central authorities. At the same time, megacities’ involvement in transnational global networks allows them to access significant financial and investment resources used in international activities. Megacities play a significant role in glocalization processes, forming and preserving local identities, which allows them to promote their image and increase the visibility of the relevant local territory globally. It was revealed that the capital factor and the city-state phenomenon allow the corresponding megacities to influence or determine state policy.