In my PhD project, I study political initiatives at the city-level which introduce new forms of social, economic and political organising and which have an explicit focus on democratic participation and sustainability. My aim is to study whether and how these efforts at the local level might have larger-scale effects for the contestation of neoliberal capitalism. I take into account how cities are globally connected through international city networks. I also take into account whether and how the COVID-19 crisis plays a role in these initiatives, by considering how the crisis has affected cities and what kinds of reactions it has invoked among citizens and the (local) state.