sister cities?

January 29, 2007 8:34 AM

What is the point of "sister cities"?

Do I benefit in any way from Lawrence, KS having sister cities in Germany, Japan, and El Salvador? Does my friend benefit from living in Shawnee, KS and having sister cities in Belgium, Ireland, and Germany?

Or is the idea of a town having a sister city pretty much the same as padding one's resume with bogus extracurricular activities that actually amount to nothing?

posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel to law & government (17 comments total)

I think it's meant to foster concepts of multiculturalism in schools more than anything. Schaumburg, Illinois, where I grew up, had sister cities in Schaumburg, Germany, and Namerikawa, Japan.

From the Schaumburg Sister Cities page:

History of the Sister Cities Program

Sister city, county, and state affiliations between the United States and other nations began shortly after World War II and developed into a national initiative when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed the “People-to-People” program at a White House conference in 1956. Originally a part of the National League of Cities, Sister Cities International (SCI) became a separate, nonprofit corporation in 1967 due to tremendous growth and popularity.

President Eisenhower’s intention was to involve individuals and organized groups at all levels of society in citizen diplomacy, with the hope that personal relationships, fostered through sister city, county, and state affiliations, would lessen the chance of future world conflicts.
posted by MeetMegan at 8:39 AM on January 29, 2007

To continue my thought above, which I got so excited about I hit post before typing it all in...

I think it's ended up being targeted at schools more than anything. We met people from our sister city as part of our 6th grade history education, and we hosted exchange students from Germany and Japan when I was in high school. The Youth Orchestra travels to Germany and Japan periodically. I think it's more to broaden concepts of the world - if you actually meet someone from that random city in that country you'll have a different concept of that country.
posted by MeetMegan at 8:42 AM on January 29, 2007

I would guess it happens to provide government employees free trips.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 8:50 AM on January 29, 2007

Town twinning started in 19th century Europe first, and then here after WW2 it became known as the Sister City program. In Europe there are various educational grants & things established for it. Sister Cities International oversees it here & it seems to be a bit political. To continue being a sister city, the local government has to foster a good relationship with that organization because they control the program.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:08 AM on January 29, 2007

What TPAA said. Free trips for the mayors.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:24 AM on January 29, 2007

I think it's for schools too. We had a sister city in France, and one time we hosted a bunch of kids from that city (when I was in elementary school).
posted by misanthropicsarah at 9:44 AM on January 29, 2007

Not just the mayors, but not really free either - we had an exchange with a primary school in one of our twin cities (we being in Canberra, Australia). One year our grade 6 class went to Nara, Japan for a week, the next year theirs came to ours. We stayed with each other's families, and had a social and a volleyball tournament, and went sightseeing for the week together. It was a great way to learn about our own city as well as theirs.

We had a similar thing with another primary school in Sydney, only three hours drive away but very different, in grade 5.

(On preview - jinx!)
posted by goo at 9:49 AM on January 29, 2007

I vaguely remember that Japanese students visited one of my old schools at some point maybe as part of this exchange program but I am more interested in how the sister cities things affects people other than those in the K-12 USA educational system.

For instance, if I go to "my" sister city in Germany or Japan or El Salvador will the status of it being a sister city be of any advantage to me?
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 9:55 AM on January 29, 2007

It's mostly a chance for cultural exchange. For example, I got to go to a Christkindlmarkt in Akron, Ohio because they have a German sister city [Chemnitz] that sends people over every year. Most Americans aren't all that likely to run into Stollen or Lebkuchen or Glühwein, so it's a cool opportunity to see a little German culture.

In some cases, the sister-city thing happens because one of the cities has a lot of immigrants from the other. Thus, for example, Cleveland's got a sister-city [or region, I guess] program with West Mayo in Ireland because a great many Irish-Americans in Cleveland originally came from that area. In this kind of arrangement, it's a way for immigrants & their families to stay connected with the motherland.
posted by ubersturm at 10:00 AM on January 29, 2007

At least in Europe, the cities often share... something or other. Dresden is twinned with Coventry - both were heavily bombarded in WW2.

Trier in Germany, Metz in France and Gloucester in the UK are twinned. They all have a fairly famous cathedral.

Or maybe both of those are a coincidence? Hmm...
posted by ClarissaWAM at 10:23 AM on January 29, 2007

Many sister city organizations were started up shortly after WW2 to try to bridge cultural gaps and ease the animocity between the different countries involved.

I gather the programs grew in popularity, since well, most of the sister city events I've been to and participated in have been way, way fun.

(As for benefits? Well, you get to meet alot of people from around the world, and some sister city organizations can help you get a job in the sister city of your choice. Definitely a good pool for recruiting translators, and English speaking people with an established interest in other cultures.)
posted by lastyearsfad at 10:39 AM on January 29, 2007

I definitely have met people who have gotten JET like jobs without having to go through the JET application process through sister city organizations.
posted by lastyearsfad at 10:41 AM on January 29, 2007

+1 the trips for officials on municipal budget.

Beverly Hills and Cannes (and Acapulco) are sister cities - this link is good on the rhetoric that justifies the relationship.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 1:06 PM on January 29, 2007

I thought it was partly a business thing - company links, imports etc. My city is twinned with a town in China and we recruit staff from there.
posted by paduasoy at 2:47 PM on January 29, 2007

Gulfport MS is sister cities with a town in Japan (sadly, I don't remember which one). Before hurricane Camille, the town sent the public library in Gulfport an exquisite Japanese doll complete with trousseau. Everything except the shoes of Akime (I think was her name) was destroyed in Camille. Years later, Japan, who had dispersed many of the dolls to "sister cities" in the US, tried to track down what happened to them all. It was an interesting "personal interest' type story of the travels of all of the various dolls. Japanese school children originally put in money for the dolls, and a new generation of children paid to replace Akime for Gulfport. Sadly, the replacement was also destoyed by a hurricane, Katrina. My mother was the head librarian at Gulfport for many years, and I still find it a charming story, so I am not as cynical about the "free trips for mayors" angle as some others of you.

In short, I think it can be a nice cultural exchange, overall.
posted by thebrokedown at 4:09 PM on January 29, 2007

For instance, if I go to "my" sister city in Germany or Japan or El Salvador will the status of it being a sister city be of any advantage to me?

I was once going to go a little out of the way to visit my town's sister city in Japan. After inquiring about the potentials of this visit at City Hall, I didn't bother since there didn't seem to be any reason. But now that I'd like to teach English there, somewhere, I may follow up on lastyearsfad's idea.
posted by Rash at 6:06 PM on January 29, 2007

Murou, Japan was a sister city of sorts to Up With People, whom I travelled with in 2005. We were treated almost like celebrities - there were massive welcoming parties for us, we got to meet the mayor (whose office was FILLED with UWP paraphernalia), our performances attracted huge stages and bigger audiences, and one school even organized an UWP week around us. My host mum told me that if I ever needed to see a doctor, I could get free treatment just by virtue of being with UWP. It was like being in Graceland.

So there may be some benefit to sister-city-hood, though I think our situation was particularly unique - I haven't heard of any other cities being sister cities to organizations.
posted by divabat at 2:19 AM on January 30, 2007