City Twinning from a Grassroots Perspective: Introducing a Spatial Framework to the Study of Twin Cities

This article formulates a conceptual framework to analyze city twinning from the perspective of local inhabitants and applies it to the twin city of Imatra and Svetogorsk on the Finnish–Russian border. This “spatial framework” is inspired by Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad, which distinguishes between “perceived space,” “conceived space,” and “lived space.” These concepts are utilized to scrutinize the relationship between the concept of a twin city and the everyday life of the inhabitants. Thirty-seven inhabitants from Imatra and Svetogorsk participated in one of six focus groups discussing their life in the cities and the concept of a twin city. The present study indicates that individuals are likely to identify with the twin city if their spatial perceptions of and lived experiences in the twin city correspond with the associations they have of the concept. The article argues that paying more attention to how local citizens understand twin cities as concepts and as spaces for everyday lives contributes to unpacking the phenomenon of city twinning. This research approach—the spatial framework—is not limited to the study of city twinning but can be applied to cross-border region building in general.