Networks of cities and the process of recomposition of the levels: the case of the Baltic cities

The numerous studies on global cities published over the last thirty years have failed to consider a large category of cities impacted both by globalization and by the widescale competition between urban projects it engenders. Baltic cities, which are often small urban areas, do not always have sufficient funds and leverage to become directly integrated into global and European processes. However, if they want to attract tourists, investments, and inhabitants, they have to highlight their comparative advantages by implementing active international policies. The Baltic scale may thus provide a stepping stone leading to larger scales. The intense cooperation among municipalities in the Baltic Sea Region since the 1990s and the fall of the Iron Curtain is part of this issue. This has led to the emergence of inequalities between large metropolitan areas which have obtained a very high level of internationalization, and medium-sized cities whose influence is currently limited to the Baltic region alone.