The author analyses the manifestations of cities’ growing role for ensuring the national/international as well as environmental and human security. Cities of today increasingly participate in international relations – they internalize, implement and enforce international law, sometimes independently of their States’ international legal obligations, for example when they pledge to implement human rights conventions or environmental law obligations that their own States did not pledge to fulfill. In this way they contribute to international peace and security. On the basis of those manifestations, the author attempts to explain the possible position of cities on the international plane and according to international law – whether they should be accorded greater autonomy or international legal personality. The author also indicates that the role of cities in the area of different aspects of security is growing.

The article deals with the consequences of a political agreement between King Ferdinand I and a part of the Bohemian opposition nobility, concluded in 1547 in order to restore stability following the Schmalkaldic War (1546–1547). The change in the tax system put Bohemian royal cities and owners of large estates at a considerable disadvantage while profits from manor farming and financial services remained virtually untaxed. This tax structure, applied for several decades, resulted in a rapid increase of debts and the ultimate collapse of the entire tax system in 1615. The resulting financial crisis was resolved by the Bohemian Landtag in 1615 by declaring bankruptcy of the treasury and taking over tax collection.

This paper concentrates on a particular example of cooperation between European cities and indigenous peoples of the Amazon river basin, namely that of Climate Alliance. The New Urban Agenda adopted at the UN Habitat III conference in October 2016 emphasizes that cities and other human settlements should meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities for current and future sustainable and economic inclusive development. Cities should also take measures to address climate change and protect and manage their ecosystems, water resources, the environment and biodiversity. Indigenous peoples, just like cities play a crucial role in the fight against climate change. 80 % of the territories with high biodiversity level are indigenous lands. Their indigenous ecological knowledge may serve as a valuable tool in initiatives aimed at fighting climate change. The aim of the paper is to show whether there are any benefits of such cooperation and what is its significance in the fight against climate change. The main research question is: what are the forms of cooperation between European cities and Amazonian indigenous peoples in the framework of Climate Alliance? In which way can European cities support indigenous peoples in their fight for their rights and consequently for the nature’s preservation? The hypothesis is that European cities may learn from indigenous peoples of the Amazon how to combat climate change.

When I was a young father, my children believed that my sayings were a true wisdom worthy repetition; today things have changed - it was my turn is to repeat wisdom of my children, believing that they usually are right. A few months ago, my son, Daviken, said that those who were writing frequently cannot easily survive without writing. Daviken was right. I loved to write, especially when something I wrote and which was contrary to what people believe was correct. I believe I inherited the dislike to generally accepted truth from my father, who was described by a Polish weekly that he was “the man who always goes against the general flow”. My father thought that this was an excellent statement of his character. He loved saying: “I am indeed a man who will think and act against prevailing flow, because only shit floats always with main current, and people who try to float in the main flow are those who repeat, without understanding, everything what they had heard”.

During the last decades, alongside the growing role of cities, the process of urbanization has been receiving more and more attention from the European policy-makers. This study analyzes the evolution of the EU urban agenda establishment since 1970s till the present times. In the first part, the paper presents five stages, most important milestones and core programs regarding the urbanization process in Europe. In the second section, the author pays a special attention to the Urban Agenda for the EU (the Pact of Amsterdam) as one of the key documents promoting the sound cooperation among the European urban policy stakeholders. In the final part, the paper provides the evaluation of the EU urban agenda’s genesis by indicating the main features of this process.

This paper aims to point to the transition from international law to transnational law that, on the one hand, is caused, and on the other, is strengthened by the growing role of cities in the fight against COVID-19. Various interactions between cities and other international actors give rise to new trends and challenges on the international plane. One of such terms, transnational law, refers to developments beyond the nation-state and includes “all law which regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers”. It is characterized by a plurality of overlapping normative systems and a growing role of new actors in the international arena, which are cities. The authors give examples of cities bypassing or complementing states with special emphasis on European cities (Polish including) as well as of cities’ transnational cooperation to fight COVID-19 pandemic, filling the gaps in inter-governmental multilateral cooperation.

Currently, Türkiye is a country with the largest number of refugees in the world. Over 3.7 million of them come from Syria. At the beginning of the migration crisis which affected European Union member states, Türkiye as a transit destination provided refugees with a place at Temporary Accommodation Centers (TACs). After signing the agreement with the European Union (on March, 21 2016) and with the increasing number of refugees in Türkiye, it became impossible to place all of them in refugee camps. Syrians began to migrate not only to border cities and towns, but also to Istanbul and other Turkish metropolises. This article aims to show the impact of refugees on the situation of Istanbul and other Turkish cities. The analysis is intended to answer the following questions: how did refugees change the structure of Turkish cities? How did the migrations of the Syrian community affect the border cities of Türkiye and the metropolises in the western and central part of the country? Which socio-economic problems did the increase in the number of refugees generate in Türkiye? What kind of social problems arose in Turkish cities with the arrival of Syrian refugees?

The paper proposes new models of neighbourhood governance and their typology, which enable to understand, categorise and compare the neighbourhood governance structures in the urban areas. The models were based on the institutional and functional setting, in which the bodies created, their competences and instruments for their implementation, along with the amount of financial means at their disposal define the character of the model. As a result, three alternative models were created (administrative, intermediate, and participative). The second part contains the results of research conducted in 66 Polish county cities. Their neighbourhood governance systems were categorized and put into the frames of the proposed models. It was proved that only Warsaw implemented the administrative model, and most of the cities practice the intermediate and participative models.

Research aim: This paper aims to show the actions that European metropolises are taking to minimise anthropic pressure and to present the attitudes of Polish city dwellers towards climate change. Research problem and methods: The main research problem is to determine to what extent cities, within the possibilities of self-government, can limit, their negative impact on the environment, taking into account the attitudes and opinions of their inhabitants. As research methods, a system analysis, a decision-making analysis, and a behavioural method were used, within which a survey technique was applied. Process of argument: the article presents the process of climate change and its consequences for the state of the environment and the well-being of societies. Actions taken by European metropolises that are forerunners in the implementation of pro-environmental solutions that fit into the vision of the economy and society of the future are presented. This futuristic perspective was juxtaposed with an analysis of the attitudes of the inhabitants of Polish cities. Results of the scientific analysis: The scientific analysis has shown that metropolitan European communities value intangibles, recognising the state of the environment as an integral part of them. Similar attitudes have been noticed among the inhabitants of Polish cities, although they vary depending on the size of the centre. At the same time, environmental awareness is not the same as the willingness to incur costs to protect nature. Conclusions, innovations, and recommendations: Stopping climate change is only possible with the active participation of cities that are forerunners in the implementation of innovative environmental technologies. Polish cities should benefit from the good practices of European environmental leaders, with the participation of citizens in the decisions taken.

This article has been inspired by the vision set out in the UN Secretary’s report General Our Common Agenda (2021) and the report of High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism entitled A Breakthrough for People and Planet. Effective and Inclusive Global Governance for Today and the Future (2023). Given the growing role of cities in international relations, the research aim of this article is to answer the question: how to make multi-level governance more effective? The author argues that more effective multi-level governance has to be more inclusive and that cities should be formally included in international decision-making processes. The author also makes the case for the growing role of cities in international relations, cooperation and addressing global problems, including migration, climate change and pandemics such as the recent Covid-19.