As global cities grapple with growing climate challenges and generational change, Shanghai is leveraging its sister-city partnerships to strengthen collaboration on green development and youth-led innovation.
This initiative was highlighted at the 2025 International Friendship Cities Cooperation Forum held this week, which welcomed delegates from 26 cities across 22 countries.
The event opened on Thursday with Vice Mayor Xie Dong presiding over the ceremony, followed by speeches from Mayor Gong Zheng and representatives from Namibia, Ireland, and Greece.
Shanghai established its first sister-city relationship with Yokohama, Japan, in 1973. As of this year, the city and its districts have formed 95 sister-city partnerships across the globe.
One of the most recent additions is Athens, which officially partnered with Shanghai earlier this year, with a focus on tourism, education, and sustainable development.
Speaking at the forum on Thursday, Athens Mayor Haris Doukas highlighted the critical role cities play in addressing global issues, especially climate change.
“When profound disagreements exist between national governments, cities are better positioned to build bottom-up bridges of cooperation and understanding,” he said.
Doukas also stressed that speeding up efforts to tackle the climate crisis must be a top priority: “This is precisely why best practices and expertise in green technologies must promptly find common ground and be scaled up for wider adoption,” he added.
Mirroring this sentiment, Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng stated that low-carbon development is an unavoidable global trend. He highlighted the city’s dedication to promoting green transformation through the adoption of new technologies, the expansion of green finance, and the acceleration of sustainable industries and supply chains.
“We hope to strengthen cooperation with our sister cities in green energy, ecology, transportation, and finance to make green the most vibrant hallmark of our cities,” he said.
A prime example of cities integrating long-term sustainability into their policies is Espoo, Finland’s fastest-growing city, which tracks progress through youth empowerment.
Espoo Deputy Mayor Merja Narvo-Akkola explained that members of the city’s Youth Council actively participate in committee work with speaking rights and have the ability to propose initiatives that directly shape local policy: “Our role is to remove obstacles from young people’s paths and empower them to show what they are already capable of achieving,” she said.
Shanghai and Espoo, sister cities since 1998, have partnered on initiatives in culture, education, innovation, and sustainable development.
Indeed, in 2023, they jointly organised the Shanghai-Espoo Sustainable Development Forum to share best practices in climate action and urban resilience.
Elsewhere, in the US, Tacoma is also harnessing the power of youth to drive urban change. Mayor Victoria Woodards shared at the forum that the Tacoma Youth Commission, composed of high school students, advises city officials on topics such as climate justice, mental health, housing, and civic engagement.
“Urban innovation is not only about technology or infrastructure — it’s about creating ecosystems of belonging, opportunity, and shared ownership. We don’t just ask youth to be the future — we invite them to build it with us now,” she commented.