City limits The mayors facing rise of far right

From Budapest to Barcelona, mayors are being thrust on to the political frontlines to battle the biggest challenges

- By Ashifa Kassam

In Budapest, it was a call to flout the Hungarian government's ban on Pride that catapulted the city's mayor into the headlines.

In Barcelona, it was a bold plan to rid the city of tourist flats by late 2028. And in Paris, it was a drastic makeover; one that included making the Seine swimmable and turning its car-clogged river-banks into pedestrian-friendly areas.

The mayors' actions - and the global conversation they elicited - hinted at how, in much of the world, the role of mayor has been recast. Gone are the stereotypes of endless ribbon cutting ceremonies and flesh-pressing events; instead mayors are increasingly being thrust on to the frontlines of some of society's thorniest challenges.

"I think mayors around the world have started to realise we have a new role, one that didn't exist before," said Jaume Collboni, mayor of Barcelona.

"We've realised the global problems we're all facing require local solutions." When he took the reins in Barcelona in 2023, Collboni noticed that one topic came up repeatedly in his discussions with other mayors: the soaring cost of housing. The observation swiftly snowballed into Mayors for Housing, an unprecedented alliance of 17 mayors across the continent seeking solutions to the crisis.

"We're the ones on the frontlines of citizens' daily lives," said Collboni.

"So it's not surprising that we're also the ones saying that things can't continue this way."

From Zohran Mamdani in New York City to Sadiq Khan in London, the increasingly global profile of mayors has led to heightened scrutiny of their actions, propelling some of them into the crosshairs of the culture wars.

In Paris, for example, mayor Anne Hidalgo's years-long effort to create 15-minute neighbourhoods and make the city greener was lauded by progressives around the world, while far-right and centre-right forces pushed back against the initiatives.