An opportunity for social innovation, sustainable urban development and smart tourism

Twinning, or sister city arrangements, are strategic assets to enhance local governance and service delivery. That’s particularly true in developing contexts. An example is the partnership between Bulawayo City Council in Zimbabwe and eThekwini Municipality in South Africa, which has facilitated the exchange of ideas, information, and technology transfer, positively influencing service delivery in Bulawayo.

Beyond governance, twinning arrangements are also useful to promote social innovation and regional cohesion. In Hungary, twinning partnerships among local self-governments have been shown to strengthen community identity and civic participation through intraethnic networks, even if direct economic benefits are limited.

Sister city relationships can also contribute to sustainable urban development by promoting international cooperation that addresses environmental, social, and economic challenges at the municipal level. This is one of the most valuable benefits that these partnerships can bring to the table. Cities can share resources, knowledge, and strategies tailored to their specific needs.

Sister city relationships can also contribute to sustainable urban development by promoting international cooperation that addresses environmental, social, and economic challenges at the municipal level. This is one of the most valuable benefits that these partnerships can bring to the table. Cities can share resources, knowledge, and strategies tailored to their specific needs.

For example, the collaboration between Bandung, Indonesia, and Kawasaki, Japan, focused on waste management and environmental issues, which strengthened Bandung’s human resources and improved its waste handling capabilities despite challenges such as financial constraints and the COVID-19 pandemic.

These partnerships are more effective than government-to-government agreements. Each city, within a country, has weaknesses and strengths which cannot be addressed with only one government-to-governmental agreement. Sister city relationship can also provide more direct and responsive support in times of crisis: during the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Kobe, aid from sister cities was particularly well targeted and timely due to the established close  communication channels.

The case of Eldoret in Kenya shows that sister city collaborations contributed to economic growth and urban development, with a measurable positive impact on GDP trends post-partnership, indicating that these agreements can support economic expansion and institutional development in ways that complement or extend beyond state-level diplomacy.

Each city should look at twinning strategies with careful attention. It’s a great opportunity to address problems and challenges which require specific skills and know-how. Geographical distance does not preclude compatibility: sometimes cities which are located on opposite sides of the world may face similar issues. Over-tourism, diversification from gambling, waste management, AI innovation and usage, etc. There are many challenges which are common in different places.

Research is an important step before conducting a twinning or sister city partnership. To establish successful agreements, it’s vital to know the similarities, differences, strengths and weaknesses of both places that are involved in the process.

Between Sanremo (Italy) and Macau (China), for example, there are similarities that could be further explored. Both places are famous for their casino. The “Casino di Sanremo” is the one of Italy’s most historic, while Macau is the “Gambling Capital of the World”. Both places are situated on the sea: Macau on the South China Sea and Sanremo on the Ligurian Sea (Italian Riviera). Macau maintains deep Portuguese cultural roots in its architectural and law, sharing a “Latin” cultural DNA with Sanremo. Both host world-class events: Sanremo has the Sanremo Music Festival (the longest-running annual TV music competition in the world on a national level, making it one of the most long-running television programs in the world. The Eurovision Song Contest and the Viña del Mar International Song Festival were created and inspired after the Sanremo Music Festival); Macau has its own Grand Prix and hosts several small-scale events. They share as well two similar but opposite challenges: Sanremo is conducting a strategy of diversification to change from a destination linked mainly to the Sanremo Music Festival (which alone generates over 200 million euros in regional economics impact) to a tourist destination active all the year, with a particular focus on luxury and experiential tourism (which happens to be the strength of Macau thanks to its integrated resorts). On the other hand, Macau is trying to diversify from its historical dependence on gaming by reinventing itself as a multi-faceted destination, aiming to make non-gaming industries responsible for 60% of GDP by 2028. A twinning arrangement may be indeed a good strategy to share know-how, technologies, best practices and all those tools that have been tested in a similar environment.

However, there is an important factor that affects the success of twinning arrangements: institutional support. It is true that twin arrangements involve the city and not the whole country, but it is also true that broader institutional support must be considered. Establishing an Integrated Resort in Sanremo (Italy), for example, may not be feasible. Let’s not consider any other aspect but politics alone. If politics is not stable, an Integrated Resort may face changing laws and bureaucracy: Italy for example is famous for frequent changes in Government, roughly one every 13 months on average.