Abstract:  This article considers the impact that increasing pragmatism and pluralism are having on South–South cooperation (SSC). Focusing on the growing sway of multilateral platforms for cooperation between cities and the reinvigoration of regionalism, it identifies experimentalist design principles for fostering autonomy-enhancing initiatives between developing countries that have the capacity to learn from and scale up locally-informed, adaptive problem solving. The first part of the article frames SSC in light of experimentalist governance theory. The second part provides a case study of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Smart Cities Network, an initiative that captures the promise and challenges of enhancing SSC through regional experimentalist governance of city-to-city partnerships.

Keywords:  Association of Southeast Asian Nations; city-to-city partnerships; experimentalist governance; regional integration; Smart Cities Network; South–South cooperation

Published:   21 April 2022

Issue:   Vol 10, No 2 (2022): Developing Countries and the Crisis of the Multilateral Order