András Szörényi: How Cities Are Reshaping Global Governance

The Century of Cities welcomes András Szörényi, Senior Policy Advisor at Global Cities Hub, to explore how cities are becoming increasingly influential actors in global cooperation. Drawing on his diplomatic career, András reflects on the shift from traditional city-to-city partnerships to today's networks of multi-level and multi-stakeholder collaboration. From climate adaptation and migration to health and digital governance, he explains why many global challenges now depend on local implementation and urban leadership. András highlights how city networks have evolved into powerful systems for sharing knowledge, testing solutions, and accelerating action across borders. His outlook is pragmatic and optimistic: the future of governance will rely less on competition between levels of government and more on stronger cooperation between cities, states, and international institutions.