As cities around the world face mounting climate challenges and generational shifts, Shanghai is turning to its sister-city network to deepen cooperation on green development and youth-driven innovation.

That effort took center stage this week at the 2025 International Friendship Cities Cooperation Forum, which brought together delegates from 26 cities across 22 countries. Shanghai Vice Mayor Xie Dong presided over the opening ceremony Thursday, followed by remarks from Mayor Gong Zheng and city leaders from Namibia, Ireland, and Greece. 

Shanghai formed its first sister-city partnership with Yokohama, Japan, in 1973. As of this year, the city and its districts had established 95 sister-city relationships worldwide. 

Among the newest is Athens, which formalized its partnership with Shanghai earlier this year, focusing on tourism, education, and sustainable development. Speaking at the forum Thursday, Athens Mayor Haris Doukas emphasized the role of cities in solving global challenges, particularly 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 added that accelerating the response to the climate crisis should 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 said.

Echoing the point, Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng said low-carbon development is an inevitable global trend. He emphasized the city’s commitment to advancing green transformation by exploring new technologies, expanding green finance, and accelerating the growth 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.

One example of cities embedding long-term sustainability into policy is Espoo, Finland’s fastest-growing city, which measures progress by youth empowerment.

Espoo Deputy Mayor Merja Narvo-Akkola said members of the city’s Youth Council take part in committee work with speaking rights and can submit initiatives that directly influence 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 collaborated on culture, education, innovation, and sustainable development. In 2023, the two cities co-hosted the Shanghai-Espoo Sustainable Development Forum to exchange best practices on climate action and urban resilience.

In the U.S., Tacoma is also turning to youth as a force for urban change. Mayor Victoria Woodards told the forum that the Tacoma Youth Commission, made up of high school students, advises city leaders on issues including 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,” she said. “We don’t just ask youth to be the future — we invite them to build it with us now.”

(Header image: VCG)