TWINING & SERVICES

Sister cities or twin towns are a form of legal or social agreement between towns, cities, counties, oblasts, prefectures, provinces, regions, states, and even countries in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.

The modern concept of town twinning, conceived after the Second World War in 1947, was intended to foster friendship and understanding among different cultures and between former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, and to encourage trade and tourism. By the 2000s, town twinning became increasingly used to form strategic international business links among member cities.

The term “twin towns” is most commonly used; the term “sister cities” is generally used for agreements with towns and cities in the Americas. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are “twin towns,” “partnership towns,” “partner towns,” and “friendship towns.” The European Commission uses the term “twinned towns” and refers to the process as “town twinning.” Spain uses the term “ciudades hermanadas,” which means “sister cities.”

Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic use Partnerstadt (De) / miasto partnerskie (Pl) / partnerské mesto (Cz), which translate as “partner town” or “partner city.” France uses ville jumelée (jumelage, twinned town or city), and Italy has gemellaggio (twinning) and comune gemellato (twinned municipality).

In the Netherlands, the term is partnerstad or stedenband (“city bond,” when providing mutual support). In Greece, the word (adelfopiisi – fraternisation) has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms vinabæir (friend towns) and vinaborgir (friend cities) are used.

In the former Soviet Bloc, “twin towns” and “twin cities” were used, along with sworn brother cities. The Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term “sister cities” or “twin cities.” In China, the term is youhao chéngshì – friendly cities.

Sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju-do in

South Korea. The douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union.  Despite the term often being used interchangeably, with the term “friendship city,” this may mean a relationship with a more limited scope in comparison to a sister city relationship, and friendship city relationships are mayor-to-mayor agreements.

For a more comprehensive list, see List of twin towns and sister cities in North America.

Dull, Perth and Kinross is twinned with Boring, Oregon Toledo, United States twinned with Toledo, Spain in 1931 and was the first city in North America  to engage in town twinning. Vancouver, Canada twinned with Odessa, Ukraine in 1944 was the first in Canada and second in North America while Denver, United States twinned with Brest, France was the second twinned city in the United States. Liberal, Kansas was twinned with Olney, United Kingdom in 1950, and the cities have run a joint Pancake Day race ever since.

Littleton, CO twinned with Bega, Australia in 1961. Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, was twinned with Seattle, Washington in 1973. Rochester, Minnesota and Knebworth, UK are both centers for primary medical research, and they twinned in 1967. Ontario, California has five sister cities around the world. They are Brockville, Ontario, Canada (since 1977), Guamúchil, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982), Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982), Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1988), and Winterthur, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Oakville, Ontario is twinned with Dorval, Quebec, Huai’an, China and Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan.

Town twinning begins for a variety of reasons. Generally, partner towns have similar demographics and size. They may arise from business connections, travel, similar industries, diaspora communities, or shared history. For example, the partnership between Portland, Oregon and Bologna, Italy arose from shared industries in biotechnology and education, and a “similar attitude towards food, “whereas Chicago’s link with Warsaw, Poland began with Chicago’s historic Polish community.

The twinning of Indianapolis with Monza, Italy is due to both cities’ long association with auto racing. Los Angeles City Hall with twin town’s fingerpost

A twin towns program was instituted in the United States in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a citizen diplomacy initiative.

Sister Cities International (SCI) was originally a program of the National League of Cities, but it became a separate corporation in 1967 due to the growth and popularity of the program. Thessaloniki stele, in sister city Melbourne

Twin town cultural events include the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. honoring Washington’s twin relationship with Tokyo City.

Many twinned towns developed business agreements with their partners. For example, Vermont’s Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Company opened a factory in the Republic of Karelia in Russia and offered the same profit-sharing plan to its Russian employees.

INDIA: Other cities of India which can be considered as twin are Daman-Diu, Delhi-Noida, Kankroli -Rajsamand, Naini-Allahabad and twin holy cities of Ajmer and Pushkar from Rajasthan. Here is the list of Indian cities which can be considered as twin towns or sister cities. There is a list of places in India which have standing links to local communities in other countries. In most cases, the association, especially when formalized by local government, is known as “town twinning” (usually in Europe) or “sister cities” (usually in the rest of the world), and while most of the places included are towns, the list also includes villages, cities, districts, and counties with similar links, as INDIAN AMERICAN RESERVATION & TRIBE.