World action

Barcelona is the world capital of municipalism

Nowadays, cities are fundamental pieces on the major world stage.  According to the United Nations, 50% of the whole of the world's population now lives in urban nucleuses, and this trend is unlikely to stop increasing in the years to come.  That's why the voice of the cities needs to be strongly heard in the multilateral and supranational organisms.

Barcelona has played a relevant role in strengthening municipalism on an international scale.  As a consequence of this commitment, it should be mentioned that the headquarters of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the main organisations of cities on a world level, and of Metropolis, which gathers together major urban conurbations of more than a million inhabitants, are in our city.    

Currently, UCLG is the main interlocutor of the cities and in front of multilateral organisms, especially the United Nations. 

  • During the last century the cities felt the need to join together, to defend their interests and increase their autonomy with respect to government and superior administrations.  To achieve these aims, national, regional and world associations of cities have been created. 

    Barcelona, as capital of world municipalism, is the headquarters for various city organisations. 

    From the global and representative point of view, it is necessary to mention the main association of cities in the world: United Cities and Local Governments, which works on fostering the political recognition of the strength of the cities as drivers of development and progress.  Moreover, it carries out a technical work through commissions and working groups. 

    Furthermore, Metropolis should also be highlighted, the world association of large metropolis, which at the same time is the metropolitan section of the UCLG.  The coordination, the transfer of experiences and the defence of the interests of the large cities are the main aims of this association. 

    Finally, we should mention the International Association of Educating Cities (IAEC), which defends the city as a laboratory of education, in the transversal sense, and citizenship. 

  • With the aim of strengthening its international profile, Barcelona is positioned as the headquarters of multi-lateral organisations and, in a priority way, with the United Nations system.