SIYASAL-JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCES, vol.33, no.1, pp.87-109, 2024 (ESCI)
Transnational Municipal Networks have taken their place in international relations as policy actors that facilitate
cooperation. The fact that cities increase their effectiveness in the field of global politics with the developments
accompanying globalization and localization policies has increased the importance of these networks as a structure
describing inter-city cooperation. This study aims to evaluate transnational networks from the cities’ perspective and
provide an explanation of the relationship between the characteristics of member cities and their participation in these
networks. To achieve this, we create a new data set by content coding the transnational networks involving Turkish
municipalities in terms of their purposes, functions, and memberships, as well as the member municipalities in terms of
their population size, level of development, and institutional unit condition. This data set reveals that the institutional
structure of municipalities, the level of urban development, and population are significant determinants of transnational
network membership. Additionally, the study describes the link between membership structures and the functions of
transnational networks. Our findings have significant implications for urban politics research.