Capital cities in multi-level settings: Assessing Scottish and Welsh residents’ perceptions of London, Edinburgh and Cardiff

Devolution processes, while aiming to transfer power to sub-state entities, contribute to creating new political, administrative, and economic centres. Consequently, in multi-level systems, we observe the coexistence of state-wide and sub-state capital cities, which may be perceived differently by citizens. This article focuses on the United Kingdom and analyses the results of an original survey conducted in Scotland and Wales. In these two devolved nations, sub-state capital cities, Edinburgh and Cardiff, ‘compete’ with the UK capital, London. Respondents were asked to assess these three cities across three dimensions: the individual/value dimension, the symbolic dimension, and the integrative dimension. While, overall, both Edinburgh and Cardiff outperform London on all three dimensions, important differences exist among respondents. This study shows that far from being neutral, the role of capital cities in devolved jurisdictions can be highly politicised and is also closely associated with individual preferences for more or less decentralisation.