A CASE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PERSONALITY OF CITIES AND LOCAL SUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS

In 2008, with half of the world's population being comprised of homo urbanus (or urban dwellers)," there was a growing realization that cities have become the most prominent sites for de-nationalization that goes in agreement with rising globalization.** In fact, authors claim that even globalization has a defined focus, which is the city.*** Cities are reconfiguring their relations with other cities and global institutions in a bid to secure relevance. Cities are rapidly asserting their influence on the international legal order, which does not formally accept these entities as international persons. The paper advances a case for recognizing the international legal personality of these sub-national units, using different theoretical approaches to international personality, including human rights and sociological-constructivist theories. It also seeks to analyze the rights and duties of cities in international law, their de facto recognition in the international framework, as well as the development of international principles governing cities.