Save the "twin city" initiative

From Urban75.org - A 'Welcome to Cardiff' sign listing the places they are twinned with

A random question here, do you ever notice "Welcome to..." signs? If you do, have you ever wondered or been interested in why there are a list of cities that particular place is twinned with? Do any of you have any understanding to why there is such thing as a "twinned city" or a "sister city"?

Why am I cross examining you? It is because I was reading an article from the BBC on Thursday which suggested that more places in the UK are "un-twinning". People today believe there is "no purpose" or places feel they no longer see the link between the towns/cities have twinned with such as Sunderland and Washington DC or Henley-on-Thames with Borama in Somalia. According to the Local Government Association, 50 percent of destinations in Britain who have twinned cities have links with French towns and cities while 23 percent have relations with places in Germany.

So what is a "twinned city" - according to Wikipedia, a "twin town and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between town, cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties". Sounds like a reasonable explanation and hopefully it will be clear to those who are unfamiliar with the term. However, hearing towns in Britain are backing out of twinning with towns is quite bewildering in my view. I have always been fascinated by the concept of twin cities. In Cardiff, my hometown for example has strong links with the cities as shown on the image above. There are street names "Boulevard de Nantes" and "Stuttgarter Strasse" in the city centre of Wales's capital, in addition to the Hordaland Scholarship I was involved in with my college, Coleg Glan Hafren (now Cardiff and Vale College) almost four years ago where I visited the wonderful Bergen and its surrounding areas in Norway. Regarding Lugansk in Ukraine and Xiamen in China, I have little knowledge of but in the forthcoming paragraphs, I'm sure I could learn a few links with them and Cardiff and how much of a benefit (or not) have they been.

The first place Cardiff was twinned with was Stuttgart in 1955, possibly in celebration to the announcement that Cardiff was to become a capital city of Wales. The links between Cardiff and the German city is mainly art and industry with Stuttgart well known for the Porsche and and Mercedes. Cardiff and Stuttgart takes pride in their museum and gay and lesbian lifestyle as Cardiff has the ever-so-popular annual Mardi Gras while Germany has the Christopher Street Day. Four years later, Lugansk put pen-to-paper with Cardiff over being "sisters" due to their coal industry links. As it stands, both cities are finding "economic regeneration" after coal has significantly declined over the past thirty years. In Cardiff it is working with Cardiff Bay and the town centre completely transformed and Lugansk are also coping relatively well. 

Then in 1963, Nantes entered the scene. Interestingly, both Cardiff and Nantes have similar features with regards to the architecture. Take Cardiff Castle for example, it almost resembles the Chateau des Ducs with the four distinctive corners. In addition both cities are rich in art, history and take advantage in transforming their docks making them their prime destination for tourists to visit. In the eighties, Xiamen twinned with Cardiff for different reasons - rather than the similarities mentioned in the past three cities, the China-based city's intention was to understand the culture in Wales and Cardiff was intrigued to be lectured on the Chinese culture and the main thing in common which both cities have is that they are cosmopolitan. Xiamen's population exceeds a million while Cardiff is growing constantly and tourism levels are vastly improving compared to when they first were linked. Last but certainly not least is the county of Hordaland in Norway was twinned with Cardiff. As I said before, I have been to the municipality before and I must say it is beautiful. They have twinned with Cardiff since 1996 and both are passion of their past - Cardiff with the coal and Bergen's fish industry.

This all sounds interesting but going through some of the cities, I don't see them fitting into the definition of "twin towns" any longer. Yes of course, when a city first partners with another, they will have had many in common but little did people realise all those decades ago that one year in news could seem a lifetime and last year was a particular example and the things they had in common seems like a distant past - it is almost like a love relationship coming to a sudden and tragic end. However, I still do not understand why towns are backing out? Surely, they can take full opportunity of the "commercial ties" especially during the economic downfall. I can only assume that Nantes and Stuttgart get something out of the street name dedicated to their city in Cardiff - especially with Boulevard de Nantes where the street has the view of the City Hall - a privilege in my view. But I feel it is time to add "economical" to the Wikipedia definition. Imagine if Washington DC gave Sunderland some funding for vital projects to benefit communities and local businesses. It is certainly something to consider and with greater awareness of the twinned cities, the public would have an understanding of the culture and get more involved and perhaps travel to those places. I would love to go to those linked with Cardiff - only going to Hordaland is not really good enough and saving up could be a good idea. 

If our government are cutting the budget, then we need to look at other solutions - let us not give up hope and not just rely on the supposed success of London 2012. Let us have other places helping us and we can help them - it is the way forward. If Cardiff backed out of any links with the cities, it will be sad to hear.

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