ILA Committee
Urbanisation and International Law
potential and pitfalls
The goal of this Committee of the International Law Association is to shed light on the growing global role of cities and makes the case for a renewed understanding of international law in the light of the urban turn.
A 'turn to the city' in international law?
Our planet continues to urbanise. Already today, more than half of the world’s population is living in cities. This number is expected to rise further in the next decades. Metropolises in the Global South face daunting challenges with respect to adequate housing, urban poverty, access to basic services and a healthy environment. Digital urban infrastructure and surveillance systems are reshaping our cities: smart sustainable city projects suggest digital technologies will improve (responsive) urban governance and the delivery of urban services and help find local solutions to global challenges such as climate change.
The Committee studies how existing international law develops and is developed in urban contexts and in turn why and how cities participate at the level of international law and governance.
The Committee aims to help shed light on whether fundamental concepts of international law are shaped, and if so how, by the urbanisation of international law, including the impact of international law on life in and governance of cities.
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