Power is shifting in the world: downward from national governments and states to cities and metropolitan communities, where policy is less partisan and more pragmatic.

Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak argue that this new locus of power—this new localism—is emerging by necessity to solve the grand challenges characteristic of modern societies: economic competitiveness, social inclusion and opportunity; a renewed public life; the challenge of diversity; and the imperative of environmental sustainability. Where rising populism on the right and the left exploits the grievances of those left behind in the global economy, new localism has developed as a mechanism to address them head on.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]