International Sister‐Cities: Bridging the Global‐Local Divide

Rolf D. Cremer, Anne De Bruin and Ann Dupuis

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2001, vol. 60, issue 1, 377-401

Abstract: With the demise of the sharp urban‐rural divide as a framework for urban analyses, debates have arisen regarding the utility of the city as a theoretically significant construct. Recently however, the growing emphasis on globalization has brought the analysis of global cities into sharp focus. The countervailing trend emphasizes the significance of “the local.” International sister‐cities provide a site of analysis which illustrates the global‐local interface and yet delves deeper. Initially conceived as a post‐war means of developing friendships and cultural ties, sister‐cities were based on similarities such as name or economic function. More recently, greater recognition has been given to the economic foundations and benefits of these connections. Providing an extension to an integrated approach to the study of sister‐cities based on the multifold relationship between culture and commerce, this paper adds a further dimension by focusing on simultaneously operating multi‐level entrepreneurial partnerships necessary to sustain active sister‐city relationships. Drawing on New Zealand examples of twinning arrangements, it is demonstrated that the emergence and development of embedded partnership ties is vital to deriving sustainable economic and social benefits. While the global outreach of the sister‐cities phenomenon appears to transcend the geographic confines of cities, strong locality considerations and local activism nevertheless predominate. A novel feature of this paper is the conceptualization of a hybrid form of entrepreneurialism, “municipal‐community entrepreneurship,” which is argued as a valuable facilitator of the economic and social vibrancy of cities. to the two cities, it is broadening out to include cultural and work exchanges.

Date: 2001
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