U.S. - Arab Cities Forum – Take Two

I am logging this entry enroute back from Amman, Jordan (circa 6/25) where the 2nd Annual U.S.-Arab Cities Forum has just successfully buttoned up its work. Launched last year by Mayor Daley of Chicago along with the mayors of two of his sister cities – Amman and Casablanca, the convening aspires to bring together chief elected officials and their key city leaders from these two parts of the world to share best practices, common issues, and network.

I was only able to make a small part of the event last year, so I was stunned by the territory of issues the program covered. To name a few, there were presentations or discussions on city planning, transportation, e-government, citizen participation, corruption, youth, arts, and (of course) economic development and tourism.

The three-day event brought together a broad range of heavy hitters from the Arab world including the mayors of Dubai, Kuwait City, Jeddah, Beruit, Arab Jerusalem, as well as the host city Amman, among others. Our partner from the region, the Arab Towns Organization, was also on hand. The U.S. presence was noticeably light given the economic times with only two mayors being able to make it besides Daley – the Mayor of Okalahoma City and the Mayor of Frisco, TX. The trio held their own just fine carrying the common messages, ideas, and concerns from U.S. cities.

Sister Cities International had the opportunity to network with Arab city leaders looking for U.S. partners and to present its model of private-public partnership with a number of examples of how our citizen program complements city initiatives such as economic development, sustainable development, energy projects, and youth engagement.

These kinds of events just reinforce the basic premise of our organization. Doesn’t matter how big or small the city, the age of the city, or type of local government issues and concerns – we are all the same. The scale of the issue may be different, but just as they knew in 1956 – across the globe, we have more in common than we have different.