AIA Fellow Anna Shpakovskaya undertook a field research trip to China as part of her fellowship and reported on her fresh impressions and findings at the Fellow Colloquium. In her interviews with representatives from cities, universities, and research institutions in five major Chinese cities, Anna was able to ask about the significance of city clusters. These clusters, such as the Jing-Jin-Ji Cluster (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) with over 110 million inhabitants and two megacities, are being established by the Chinese government to promote growth and development. There are currently 19 such city clusters in China, which serve as a tool for accelerating economic growth. China hopes that the clusters will promote economic integration and cooperation, while the cities continue to compete for resources and prestige. In Anna’s view, this also explains the great interest of Chinese cities in international city partnerships – which continue to puzzle their partners, including those in North Rhine-Westphalia. Chinese cities and their mayors are not only measured by economic growth, but also by their networking activities, so formal partnerships are an important opportunity for them to demonstrate their commitment to the Chinese government.

Anna focuses on city partnerships between North Rhine-Westphalia and China, such as those between Bonn and Chengdu, Düsseldorf and Chongqing, and Duisburg and Wuhan (incidentally, Germany’s oldest city partnership, established in 1982). She has already conducted interviews in North Rhine-Westphalia with representatives of many cities and associations, which revealed both the potential for deeper cooperation and the uncertainty towards Chinese partners. Anna Shpakovskaya’s research project can thus contribute to an understanding of the common interests in both countries, taking into account their different economic and social structures.

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Anna Shpakovskaya

Fellow AIA NRW

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