Through information exchange and mutual cooperation of its members, as well as implementing various training programs, it aims to strengthen local governments, promote decentralization and capacity building of local governments.In addition, by promoting directly before the international community and unifying the voices of local governments on an international level in responding to globalization and urbanization, UCLG aims to affect influence as representatives of all local governments in the sphere of the United Nations and related organizations.
Members consist of cities and local governments, as well as local government associations and related organizations that hold strong relationships with local governments. The headquarters is located in Barcelona, Spain with the Presidency at present held by the Mayor of Paris, France, with Co-Presidents reflecting the multi-cultural nature of the organization.
The structure of UCLG is split into two levels, the world level and regional level. On a regional level, there are 7 regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, Euro-Asia, Europe, Middle-East and West Asia, Latin America, and North America) and a Metropolitan section (for capital cities and cities over 1 million inhabitants).
Hamamatsu set a "lobal City Vision" in 2001 as a guideline for the internationalization of the city. One basic principle of the vision is adopting cooperation between cities and people both at home and abroad. As one of many concrete projects, in order to broaden the network of people and information, Hamamatsu City became affiliated with the IULA organization, one of the original constituents of UCLG, thus arriving where we are today.