Abstract The ways in which cities function and are governed matter economically. While the growing literature on ‘global cities’ shows that city governments often pursue economic competitiveness, not much work has been done on whether the formal powers and competencies of cities and towns, as well as the ways in which these are wielded, are conducive to the achievement of developmental and socio-economic objectives. This article considers the interactions and interdependencies between local government law, urban governance, developmental objectives and formal as well as informal cross-border trade between cities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. While supporting increased devolution of local government powers, it cautions that cities of SADC must take care to wield their powers in ways that ensure the economic flourishing of the majority of their inhabitants. In particular, this requires a change of mindset in relation to the municipal regulation of informal economic activity.

中文翻译：

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南部非洲发展共同体全球城市的地方政府法律，发展和跨境贸易

摘要城市的运作方式和治理方式在经济上至关重要。尽管越来越多的关于“全球城市”的文献表明，城市政府通常追求经济竞争力，但关于城镇的正式权力和能力以及运用方式和手段是否有利于城市建设，并没有做大量的工作。实现发展和社会经济目标。本文考虑了南部非洲发展共同体（SADC）地区城市之间地方政府法律，城市治理，发展目标以及正式和非正式跨境贸易之间的相互作用和相互依存关系。在支持地方政府权力下放的同时，它告诫，南部非洲发展共同体的城市必须谨慎使用权力，以确保大多数居民的经济繁荣。特别是，这需要改变有关非正式经济活动的市政法规的观念。