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In a context where the agri-food transition seems to be crystallising around a new localist framework, the article compares the transition patterns of four large cities with the key stages of national developments. Chronological timelines of food governance at the scale of urban areas for Rennes, Caen, Angers and Poitiers show the progressive enrichment of networks and new points of agreement between the stakeholders. A stage of stabilisation of secant and complex networks signals in all cities the anchoring of the transition. However, this anchoring occures around variable themes and coalitions according to the local identity and the agricultural and cultural history of each urban area. In three of the four cities, these local transitions predate the national stage in 2014 (birth of the Territorial Food Projects), indicating that the national anchoring of the transition was rooted in prior local dynamics.