Invisible Cities: Cities as Global Legal Actors

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Invisible Cities Cities as Global Legal Actors?

• Keith Aoki
• University of Oregon School of Law
• LatCrit, UNLV
• Saturday, Oct. 7. 2006

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2006

• Frug and Barron, International Local Govt Law
  (2006)
• Nation-states, invisible cities?
• Paradox LGs basic services, land use, fiscal
  authority BUT intl trade, foreign policy, intl
  finance?
• Look into the void, the void looks into you

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2 Discourses
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Cities subordinate to nation-states or
autonomous global legal actors?

• Cities exercising power with supranational
  effects?
• But cities within the regulatory reach of
  international institutions?
• Traditional story cities invisible, not
  subjects of international law
• New story privatist vs. social city?
• Anomalies Vatican, Singapore, Al Queda

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City Foreign Policy

• Nuclear Freeze
• Disinvestment in firms doing business with South
  Africa
• LGs take positions regarding foreign policy

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City Foreign Policy

• 165 U.S. City Council Resolutions Opposing the
  Iraq War
• 400 U.S. LGs opposing the USA-Patriot Act

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City Foreign Policy

• LGs try to internalize aspects of Intl Law
• SF and LA adopt UN Convention on the Elimination
  of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

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City Foreign Policy

• Salt Lake City
• Seattle
• Portland
• Voluntarily comply with Kyoto Protocol

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Dark Side

• Hazelton, PA, 2006
• Immigration policy
• Fine LLS who rent to undocumented immigrants
• Deny licenses to business that hire UIs
• English official language of town
• Hazelton protect residents health safety

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But cf., Crosby v. Natl Foreign Trade, 530 US
363 (2000)?

• Mass. Law barring entities from buying goods from
  Myanmar preempted by a federal statute
• Statutory, not constl
• Other city initiatives affected? (intl trade
  initiatives by LGs?)

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Intl Development

• World Bank, IMF Good governance
• Downside restrict cities powers
• Cities as engines of economic development
• Is good governance a synonym for
  laissez-faire?

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NAFTA Chapter 11 Protect Foreign Direct
Investment

• Metalclad (2001) US corp. bought landfill and
  did not receive permission to continue
  operating, sued Mexico under NAFTA
• Denial of permit Mexico breached treaty
  obligation to provide fair equitable
  treatment multi-million award
• Scope of LG power in MX constrained
• NAFTA preempts LG autonomy governing local
  matters
• See also Tecmed (2004), MTD Equity (2005) and
  Mondev (2003)

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2 Visions of City Power

• Privatist city
• Mere subdivisions of states
• Nightwatchman governance
• Facilitate private accumulation of
• Social/Public city
• Home rule autonomy of LGs to act
• Benefit residents
• Public political space v. private market space

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Privatist City, 21st Century

• Neutral grid?
• Uniformity problematic
• Cities organized around economic development, the
  social city drops out
• Strong FDI protections tying LGs hands (NAFTA,
  etc.) (arbitration tribunals, not courts)
• Empowerment of a particular type
• Power to open municipal self to intl mkt?

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LGs Squeezed

• Inequality intensified
• Democracy deficit
• Kelo (domestic), NAFTA, Chapter 11
• Economic development privileged, social
  development neglected
• Best of times, worst of times?