City Twinning: Review Of India and UK Experience

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Urban development is a top priority for the Government of India. In June 2015 Prime Minister Modi launched the 100 Smart Cities Mission which aims to turn 100 cities into engines of inclusive economic growth and job creation. The UK is well placed to collaborate with India on this reform plan. The UK is globally recognised for its expertise in city planning, design, architecture, civil engineering and technology. Smart city activities, for example, are worth over £16 million with our smart city hubs in Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Greenwich, Birmingham and Leeds. Therefore in 2016 the UK and Indian Prime Ministers made a commitment to build a more strategic and ambitious urban partnership which brings together governments, businesses, investors and experts to build smarter, more inclusive cities. This builds on the 3 UK-India partnership cities of Indore, Pune and Amravati which have been supported since 2015. As part of our enhanced partnership UK-India city twinning (also known as City Pairing) are being considered as a future activity in consultation with the Government of India. Twinning is based on the notion of similarity in representation and scale between two cities. It is a practice that creates formal and informal political, economic, social and cultural relationships between cities across national borders. Traditionally twinning was used to create international understanding and cooperation yet evidence suggests they also help cities grow faster than in those that do not.