- Town twinning
Town twinning is a concept whereby
town s or cities in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links. In theEuropean Union , such pairs of towns are known as friendship towns or partner towns and twin towns in the UK. InNorth America ,India ,Australasia andAsia , the term sister cities is used for the same concept and brother cities is the term in the formerSoviet bloc . Sister cities often (though by no means always) have similar demographic and other characteristics. Sometimes, even larger areas enter into "twinning" agreements, such as that between theprovince s ofHainan in China andJeju inSouth Korea .Europe
The earliest form of town twinning in Europe was between the German city of
Paderborn and the French city ofLe Mans in836 , although this was not officially established as a modern town twinning arrangement until1967 .Coventry inEngland was the first ever city to "twin" with another city (Stalingrad, then in theSoviet Union ) and hence began the modern practice of twinning.The practice was continued after the
Second World War as a way to bring European people into a closer understanding of each other and to promote cross-border projects of mutual benefit. For example, Coventry twinned withDresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, both cities having been heavily bombed during the war. Each twin city country is represented in a specific ward of the city and in each ward has a peace garden dedicated to that twin city. Another early example of town twinning dates back to1947 whenBristol Corporation (later Bristol City Council) sent five 'leading citizens' on a goodwill mission toHanover . While still more popular as a concept in Europe than elsewhere, the idea has now spread to other continents.Within Europe, town twinning is now supported by the
European Union . The support scheme was established in1989 . In2003 an annual budget of about 12 millioneuro s was allocated to about 1,300 projects. TheCouncil of European Municipalities and Regions also works closely with the Commission (DG Education and Culture) to promote modern, high quality twinning initiatives and exchanges that involve all sections of the community.E.U. sister cities are a separate affiliation from the international sister cities association.
In the
UK , twinning is sometimes associated withjunket ing, as local dignitaries visit twinned towns. [ [http://www.preston.gov.uk/Category.asp?cat=1808 Preston's Twin Towns ] ] [ [http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2006/10/23/284614.html Town may look for a twin ] ]North America
The first city in North America to establish a sister city relationship was
Toledo, Ohio , United States, withToledo, Spain in 1931.Vancouver ,British Columbia ,Canada was also a notable city to enter into an intercontinental twinning arrangement when, in 1944, it twinned with the Ukrainian city ofOdessa , which at the time was part of theSoviet Union . This was based on aiding the allied port city during theSecond World War .Tashkent , an Uzbek city, then part of Soviet Union, was twinned withSeattle ,USA in 1973 and became the first Soviet city to be twinned with one in the US. Another first for town twinning occurred in 1967 whenRochester, Minnesota andKnebworth ,UK teamed up to bring a primary medical research front.The American "Sister Cities" program was begun in 1956 by President
Dwight Eisenhower . It was originally administered as part of theNational League of Cities , but since 1967 it has been a separate organization,Sister Cities International (SCI), which is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between U.S. and international communities in an effort to increase global cooperation at the municipal level, to promote cultural understanding and to stimulate private business and economic development. SCI leads the movement for local community development and volunteer action by motivating and empowering private citizens, municipal officials and business leaders to conduct long-term programs of mutual benefit. [ [http://www.sister-cities.org/sci/aboutsci/history Sister Cities International - History] ]Informal usage
Sometimes, people will use the phrase "sister cities" to mean cities that are neither very close together, nor from two different cultures and officially twinned, but rather two cities with similar cultures and/or historical background, as with
Galveston, Texas andNew Orleans , two cities that were historically major Southern ports on the Gulf coast. Another example isCharleston, South Carolina andBoston (see the Charleston article for a description of their colonial-era relationship). "Twin Towns"Fact|date=February 2008 is also used as a colloquialism for the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, specifically referring to the centraltwin cities ofMinneapolis and Saint Paul.References
ee also
*
List of twin towns and sister cities
*Cross-border town naming
*Partnership 2000
*World City External links
* [http://ec.europa.eu/towntwinning/index_en.html Town-twinning information] from the
European Commission
* [http://www.sister-cities.org/ Sister Cities International (cities twinned with cities in the USA)]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1644_282/ai_97228022/print Germany and the town twinning movement]* [http://www.ccre.org/champs_activites_liste_news_en.htm?ID=3115 Town twinning in Europe's municipalities, towns and regions]
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