Today's global cities are hyper-connected, transcend borders and impact international agendas. Within the context of global change, cities' perpetual adaptability, reflexivity and responsiveness, have legitimized their growing role within the global governance architecture. Nevertheless, the increased mismatch between the role cities are expected to play at the global level and their place within global governance structures hinders the collective ability to address planetary challenges. Taking stock of the importance of inclusivity in cities in order to solve these challenges, innovate and cultivate legitimacy, we argue that the City of Geneva, in collaboration with the Geneva International Airport, achieves legitimacy in the global governance architecture due to its demonstrated capacity to be a champion in social innovation through its facilitation of participatory urbanism. The city of Geneva has been at the epicenter of global governance and decision-making for nearly 100 years and is a prime example of local level implementation of innovative solutions to global challenges, such as sustainable urban transportation and energy systems. This paper presents our analysis of the City of Geneva through our Sustainability-Oriented Innovation Index for Airports©, with regards the international airport's capacity to align sustainability strategies through three unique lenses of environmental, social, and technological innovation.