Cities in the World Economy and International Relations: Past, Present, and Future

The article is devoted to the study of the role of cities in global economic and political processes. The relevance of the topic is determined by the ongoing transformations of the world order amid geopolitical tensions, as well as the increasing role of non-state and subnational actors in the global economy and politics. At the same time, academic literature notes a lack of scientific works dedicated to the analysis of the role of cities in the new external environment. Thus, the aim of the article is to identify the genesis of urban theory and critically rethink it. As a result of the analysis, the author outlines the evolution of theory in the field of the international role of cities, which can be represented as: world city – global city. The study focuses primarily on the global city concept coined by American urbanist Saskia Sassen, as it is currently the most popular. The identification of key characteristics for classifying a city as global allowed highlighting the main trend that influenced the emergence of global cities – globalization. The analysis of current megatrends, based on analytical reports and scientific works, revealed a modern trend aimed at the transformation of globalization. Consequently, the analysis showed the need for revising existing theoretical concepts to adequately describe the role of cities amid the fragmentation of the world economy and global instability. Taking this into account, the author’s concept of the macroregional city is presented. This concept appears relevant in today’s conditions of world economic fragmentation, geopolitical confrontation, and civilizational divides. At the same time, it represents a politically neutral theory that reflects the multipolarity of the emerging world order and encompasses the full world diversity.