The diplomacy activities in local governments and its reflection on local services: The sample of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality

As the world population gradually builds up in the urban areas, the problems of the cities and their habitants are getting more complex. Political, economic, social, and technological changes, experienced by the new mentalities and governance approaches in the field of public administration, are showing that new administration forms based on collaboration and network governance are getting more important. In the globalized world system in which the reciprocal dependence rapidly rises, the local governments get involved in much wider areas beyond their residential areas. The improvement of local governments' relations in international area and their collaboration efforts increases the importance of the notion of city diplomacy. As the growing role of the cities in the field of international relations were emphasized in the studies conducted about city diplomacy, the importance of these relations in the context of local requests and needs of the city is barely mentioned. In this sense, the aim of the study includes investigating whether the diplomacy activities of local governments can be evaluated as an alternative method in the delivery of services to the city and to its habitants. In the study, the effect of city diplomacy activities on local services was evaluated within the scope of field study applied in the example of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality in Turkey. In the study, qualitative research analysis was used. In the qualitative data collection process, scanning of archive records, interview and observation techniques were used. The data obtained were extracted into text by using discourse and content analysis. In the light of the data obtained because of theoretical studies, it has been seen that the city diplomacy activities have direct or indirect effects on the provision of local services within the scope of 5 different fields that are "participation", "knowledge, practice and experience transfer", "fighting wicked problems", "improvement of institutional capacity" and "mobilized of financial resources". These impact areas were supported by the findings obtained as a result of field study conducted in İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. The diplomacy activities of local governments and their effects on local services are shaped by their own experiences. The field study of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality is a foresight regarding the strengthening of the link between the international strategies of local governments and their service policies.