Milano and Chicago: Sister Cities, Sister Souls
The two cities have been partners since 1973.
[Disponibile anche in italiano for Medium Italiano readers]
Milan and Chicago share many commonalities reflected in the strong ties the two cities enjoy and in the solid bond of friendship between Italy and the United States, between Italians and Americans. On many occasions the two cities have shown the strength of their collaboration and their willingness to partner for a better future — both for their peoples, and for the world.
After all, how can we forget the latest visit to Milan by Chicago-native, and longtime resident, Michelle Obama during the International Expo in 2015? The First Lady visited Milan as part of The White House Presidential Delegation to the Milan World Expo, an international fair entirely dedicated to food sustainability and energy security, themes that Michelle Obama shares and embraces.
In addition to visiting the American Food 2.0 US pavilion, she also met with representatives from other countries to share the success stories of her own Let’s Move! initiative, and learn about how other countries are addressing the issue of childhood obesity, and raising healthier families.
A year later, former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was in Chicago during a week-long trip to the United States, which also included Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.
In Chicago, Renzi met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel (Chicago Mayor’s Office) also visited the Fermi Lab, one of the most prestigious scientific research facilities in the US, named after Italian scientist and Nobel Prize recipient Enrico Fermi.
SIDE-BY-SIDE
SISTER CITIES, SISTER SOULS
The bonds between Milan and Chicago extend well beyond politics and foreign policy.
The two have been Sister Cities since 1973, and while culture and the arts have been a common denominator throughout the years, their ties span many sectors, from architecture to music, from fashion to education, finance and the economy:
- Both host major financial exchanges: Milan’s Borsa Italiana is one of Europe’s largest stock markets; and Chicago hosts the Mercantile Exchange for derivatives and agricultural commodities.
- Both are design capitals of the world when it comes to architecture. Last year a delegation from Milan, led by renowned architect Stefano Boeri, traveled to Chicago to take part in the city’s inaugural Chicago Biennial Architecture. On the event’s sidelines, Boeri’s Bosco Verticale (his iconic Vertical Forest building in Milan) was awarded the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s “2015 Best Tall Building Worldwide” prestigious recognition.
- Both share a love for music — and one of the greatest conductors in recent history, Maestro Riccardo Muti. In 2010, Muti became the tenth music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) after a 19-year tenure as music director at Milan’s iconic Teatro alla Scala.
- Both have thriving business and civic communities which partnered for Expo 2015 to highlight the strong relationship between the two cities. Chicago was one of the Expo’s biggest city delegations, with more than 40 businesses and organizations represented.
ITALY IN CHICAGO
Chicago has recognized Italy’s contribution to its history, traditions, and everyday life many times. In 2011, former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Italian Republic with a special proclamation.
As part of its digital diplomacy program, a few years ago the Embassy of Italy in US chose Chicago as one of the US cities featured in its “A bit of Italy in your City” mapping initiative, which highlights Italian itineraries in various American cities. The itineraries in Chicago show not only the strong ties with Italy, but also the great contributions of Italians and Italian-Americans in the city and beyond.
A BIT OF HISTORY
SisterCitiesInternational, an organization which promotes collaboration between different, distant peoples who are yet linked by significant similarities, pioneered the concept of Sister Cities in 1956. Milan, enthusiastically opened to new international initiatives, immediately saw Sister Cities as an excellent opportunity to foster and develop cooperation between cities, strengthen bonds between peoples and exchange strategies and experiences to improve the quality of life, and well-being, of the cities’ citizens.
Because of this, Milan started signing Sister Cities agreements back in 1961, which now number 13, including Chicago.
This American city is the largest in the State of Illinois, and sits on the shores of Lake Michigan. Known for its architecture, it is a jewel in the crown of American economic and cultural life, much as Milan is in Italy, and both wield a strong, and globally recognized, influence.
Milan became Italy’s economic capital following the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century. Since the end of World War II, it has experienced a strong urbanization process. In the 20th century, the city stabilized its economic and productive role, and became the largest Italian financial market. Furthermore, it is also one of the world capitals of fashion and industrial design, and home to one of the most important Italian universities. Milan is also the largest congress center in Europe and has hosted two Universal Exhibitions, respectively in 1906 and 2015.
RECENT INITIATIVES
- Recent joint initiatives include the Waiting for Green in Chicago in April of 2013, a project born in Milan in 2009 and taken up by Chicago in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Sister Cities relationship between the cities, during the Year of Italian Culture in the United States.
- 2013 also marked the visit of the culture councilor of the City of Milan to Chicago to launch the American Autumn project, with a focus on art and American culture from the 1930s until today.
- In 2014, there was an important collaboration in the health sector, as Milan was involved in the Lurie Center and the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation project.
ITALIAN SISTER CITIES IN THE US
Sister Cities International has increasingly promoted the idea of collaboration both in great artistic, cultural and industrial centers, but also in smaller cities, helping to enhance relations between different, and far-away, nations.
One example is the cooperation between Taormina, the Sicilian town that will host the G7 Summit in 2017 under Italian presidency, and Sunny Isles Beach in Florida.
“The Sunny Isles Beach’s Sister City partnerships give us the opportunity to take advantage of a variety of cultural exchanges in the areas of business, education, lifestyle, and the arts,” Sunny Isles Beach Vice-Mayor Jeanette Gatto said this past summer as she welcomed an Italian architect from Taormina who was starting an exchange program.
These exchanges can be very rewarding on many levels for our City as well as the Sister City involved.
Other examples of Italy— US Sister Cities agreements follow:
- Assisi, Umbria — San Francisco, California
- Amalfi, Campania — New Haven, Connecticut
- Bergamo, Lombardy — Greenville, South Carolina
- Bologna, Emilia-Romagna — St. Louis, Missouri
- Catania, Sicily — Phoenix, Arizona
- Cosenza, Calabria — Lansing, Michigan
- Florence, Tuscany — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Gaeta, Latium— Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Genoa, Liguria — Baltimore, Maryland; and Columbus, Ohio
- Modena, Emilia-Romagna — Saint Paul, Minnesota
- Palermo, Sicily — Miami, Florida
- Perugia, Umbria — Seattle, Washington
- Pescara, Abruzzo — Miami Beach, Florida
- Pisa, Tuscany — Niles, Illinois
- Rome, Latium — City of New York, New York; Rome, Georgia; and Washington, DC
- Turin, Piedmont — Salt Lake City, Utah
The Sister Cities program includes many European cities, large and small, and some those amazing partnerships have been highlighted here on Medium by the Embassy of Austria, Embassy of Belgium, Embassy of Bulgaria, Embassy of Croatia, EmbassyofCyprus, Czech Embassy in DC, Embassy of Estonia, Embassy of Finland, French Embassy U.S., GermanyinUSA, Embassy of Greece in DC, Embassy of Hungary, and GCSCI thanks to EUintheUS’s #SisterCitySunday campaign in partnership with SisterCitiesInternational and the 28 EU embassies in Washington DC.
To learn more about Sister Cities agreements, please visit Sister Cities International: http://www.sister-cities.org/
This story is part of the #SisterCitySunday series on Medium. Each Sunday from October 2, 2016 to May 7, 2017, new stories from the 28 European Union Member States will be published. Stories will also be shared on social media using #SisterCitySunday.
To join the conversation on social media, make sure to use #SisterCitySunday and tag @EUintheUS and @SisterCitiesInt on Twitter and Instagram, andEUintheUS and SisterCitiesInternational on Facebook. Let us know about your experiences in twinned cities and share your partnership stories with us!
