The Twinning of the World: Sister Cities in Geographic and Historical Perspective

Zelinsky, Wilbur

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1991.tb01676.x

Cited by 128 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The world fairs that were initiated in the 19th century also stimulated contacts between cities (Zelinsky 1991). In the wake of these early attempts many others followed in order to enhance co-operation between cities.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the wake of these early attempts many others followed in order to enhance co-operation between cities. For example, the foundation of the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) at Ghent in Belgium in 1913 was specifically aimed at stimulating international co-operation between cities (Zelinsky 1991). Ties between cities were also stimulated by ad hoc initiatives by city councils or private enthusiasts for more co-operations between cities (Clarke 2009).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Town Twinning and German City Growth

2015

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractAfter World War II (WWII), town twinning became popular, notably in Germany. This was mainly a reaction to the war experience, and it was aimed at creating renewed international understanding and co-operation between German cities and cities in other countries. The contacts created by town twinning also resulted in increased international access for the cities involved. This potentially stimulates growth in these cities compared to cities that do not have (as many) twinning partners. In this DICE report article we summarize the findings of Brakman, Garretsen and Oumer (2015) on the effects of town twinning on population growth in German counties and municipalities. Our results show that German counties and municipalities that engage in town twinning often experienced significantly higher population growth than German cities that did not have twinning partners. The number or intensity of twinning relations in particular, as well as town twinning with French cities, and with neighboring countries more generally, turn out to have a positive effect on city growth. We also find that the positive population growth effects of town twinning are confined to the larger German cities.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Town Twinning and German City Growth

2015

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“…Campbell 1987, Lofland 1989, Zelinsky 1991. In this section, I draw on a brief history of interurban partnerships involving British localities to argue that town twinning is better conceptualised in three ways: as a device (for producing topological proximity between topographically distant localities); a repertoire (of formal agreements, trade delegations, joint projects, exchange visits etc.…”

Section: Conceptualising Town Twinningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost two decades ago, the Annals of the Association of American Geographers published a paper by Wilber Zelinsky on twin towns or, as they tend to be called in North America, sister cities (Zelinsky 1991). In the paper, Zelinsky noted that town twinning -the establishment and practice, by various groups, of relatively formal and long-term relationships between settlements usually located in different nation-states -was invented as an organised phenomenon in Western Europe after the Second World War, from where it spread to the USA and other 'advanced countries' during the Cold War, and to former 'Eastern Bloc' and 'Third World' countries during the 1980s.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globalising care? Town twinning in Britain since 1945

Clarke

2011

Geoforum

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Town twinning describes the establishment and practice, by various groups and to various ends, of relatively formal and long-term relationships between settlements usually located in different nation-states. Twin towns are sometimes called sister cities. This paper draws on a study of town twinning that focused on the involvement of British localities since the end of the Second World War and analysed data collected by the Local Government Association (for England and Wales), materials archived in the National Archives at Kew, London and various local record offices, and transcripts of interviews with representatives of relevant local, national, and international organisations. The paper makes three main contributions. Firstly, it provides a brief history of town twinning involving British localities. Secondly, it develops from this historical narrative an original conceptualisation of town twinning, arguing that it should be approached less as a coherent movement and more as a device, a repertoire, and a model. Thirdly, it argues that town twinning has often been used as a device for extending care across space -and that much can be learned from its history for contemporary geographies of care. Town twinning participants have approached the problem of care-at-a-distance as both an ontological problem and a practical problem. Some have focused more than others on the role of distanciated causal relationships in the generation of needs in distant places. Some are currently encountering another problem as they attempt to globalise care: the problem of carein-a-hurry.

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“…Various groups and organisations used town twinning to support the reunification of Germany after 1989 (ibid). Town twinning has also been used since the late 1970s in attempts to construct development in the so-called Global South (Weyreter 2003, Zelinsky 1991.…”

Section: Town Twinningmentioning

confidence: 99%

In what sense ‘spaces of neoliberalism’? The new localism, the new politics of scale, and town twinning

Clarke

2009

Political Geography

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This paper draws on a study of town twinning in Britain since 1945 to engage with narratives of 'the new localism' and 'the new politics of scale'. It argues that town twinning is often used in technical assistance programmes such as the UK Government's Know How Fund and various schemes of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum.'Fast policy' is a concept that can be usefully applied to these programmes and the broader field of interurban networking, urban policy mobility, and policy transfer. Town twinning plays an active yet overlooked role in fast policy. The paper also argues that town twinning is part of a longer history of bottom-up localism that includes the political arguments of John Stuart Mill, at least two moments of twentieth-century municipal internationalism, the municipal foreign policy movement of the 1980s, and the community development movement of the last three decades. This longer history suggests sources of localism other than statecraft, and problematises the conceptualisation of power and periodisation of history found in regulation theories of devolution. KeywordsThe new localism, the new politics of scale, town twinning, sister cities, fast policy, technical assistance.

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The Twinning of the World: Sister Cities in Geographic and Historical Perspective

Cited by 128 publications

References 5 publications

Town Twinning and German City Growth

Town Twinning and German City Growth

Globalising care? Town twinning in Britain since 1945

In what sense ‘spaces of neoliberalism’? The new localism, the new politics of scale, and town twinning

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