Many cities across the United States and the rest of the world have entered into relationships or partnerships with other cities called sister cities. These relationships are broad and long term and can be between cities, counties or even states in two different countries. The main idea behind forming a sister city partnership is to forge cultural and commercial ties between two different areas of the globe. Sister city partnerships always involve local governments, but they can also include local businesses and citizens. Their projects are varied and can include anything from sharing arts to education and the environment.
In studying sister cities, it is important to note that there are different terms used for these relationships worldwide. Sister city is the term most commonly used in the U.S. and the one that is encouraged by Sister Cities International - the organization that is the national headquarters for these partnerships in the U.S. Other terms used include twin cities (mainly in Russia and the United Kingdom), friendship cities (in Japan and China), partnerstadt (Germany) and jumelage (France). In the U.S., friendship cities is also a term that is used but it often denotes a more limited partnership than a sister city.
How Sister Cities Work
Sister city relationships can begin in a number of different ways. Most often they occur from the top down when two mayors of two cities meet and agree to become partner communities. They also regularly begin via community participation when individuals get together and form a sister city committee and request that their local government form official partnerships with their recommended cities. In the U.S., Sister Cities International can also act as a liaison for forming partnerships once a city has expressed interest in doing so.
Once it is decided that two cities will form a sister city partnership, they often share information on various topics with one another. Committees made up of city officials and citizens are also normally set up (if not already done so in the requesting phase) to support the partnerships. Official visits to each city also occur and a formal set of goals and sister city projects are decided prior to formally becoming sister cities.
The most successful sister city partnerships are those that begin between two cities that have something very similar in common. For example, they share similar cultural festivals, types of populations, geography and industry. Seattle, Washington and Kobe, Japan are sister cities that share the commonality of both being port cities. In the U.S., it is also not uncommon for sister city partnerships to form in cities abroad after companies are opened and similar economic bases form.
History of Sister Cities
City partnerships have been around for hundreds of years and the earliest form of a sister city was in Europe in 836 between the tons of Paderborn, Germany and Le Mans, France. The first official sister city or city twinning in this case was recorded in 1920 between Keighley, West Yorkshire, England and Poix-du-Nord, France, however, formal charters between the cities were not exchanged until 1986.
After World War II, other European cities began the city twinning process to re-unify the region. For example, Coventry, England, Stalingrad (now known as Volgograd), Russia and Dresden, Germany all partnered with one another for unification purposes but also because all suffered heavily bombing in WWII.
The first city in North America to form a sister city partnership was Toledo, Ohio. In 1931, it formed a relationship with Toledo, Spain. The official sister cities program was initiated in the U.S. in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower as part of the National League of Cities. In 1967, though, a separate organization called Sister Cities International began administering the program.
Criticisms of Sister Cities
Like any local government program, the idea of sister cities has several criticisms. The first is that many relationships do not economically benefit the cities but the programs cost the cities money to run. Some critics also complain that sister cities are a tool used by politicians to gain political support.
Despite these criticisms however, the sister city program has thrived around the world for its ability to educate people and link different cultures and geographic areas with each other. Since the development of official sister city organizations, hundreds of cities in the U.S. and worldwide have entered into these partnerships with each other.
To learn more about sister cities, visit the Sister Cities International website.
References
Sister Cities International. (n.d.). What Are Sister Cities? Information for U.S. and International Communities (.pdf). Retrieved from: http://www.sister-cities.org/toolkits/membership/WhatAreSisterCities.pdf
Wikipedia. (28 August 2010). Twin Towns and Sister Cities - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_towns_and_sister_cities