Pittsburgh, Glasgow finalize sister city partnership

PITTSBURGH — The cities of Pittsburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, finalized their partnership as sister cities Thursday with an in-person ceremony.

The meeting between Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Leader of Glasgow City Council Susan Aitken came after a virtual signing ceremony last year and formalized the relationship between the cities. Thursday’s meeting was the next step in creating a stronger connection between Pittsburgh and Glasgow, officials said.

Peduto’s office said in a news release that the two cities have a lot in common, including an industrial past and their locations along rivers. The modern cities also share common goals related to innovation, environmental sustainability, racial justice and economic and social equity.

“The long-established Scottish connection to Pittsburgh has been strengthened in recent years as we’ve shared the challenges of industrial heritage, built a renewed strength through a shared resilience journey and now seek to collaborate further through a sister cities arrangement,” Peduto said in the release.

This new partnership came about with the assistance of the Sister Cities Association of Pittsburgh (SCAP). SCAP, like other like organizations across the US and world; seeks beneficial two-way partnerships with cities across the globe through economic, cultural and educational exchanges with cities that share commonalities, challenges and opportunities.

“Glasgow and Pittsburgh were titans of the industrial age – with global reputations for ships, built on the Clyde, and the mills that lined the rivers of the Steel City. Both endured very similar slumps in our fortunes as heavy industry faltered. Many thousands of jobs were lost; populations declined, and the health of citizens suffered. What is arguably more remarkable is the way our cities have fought back from these challenges over recent decades; with both drawing on their resilience to address the economic, social and physical legacies of our industrial past,” Aitken said.

Pittsburgh currently has Sister Cities in 18 different countries. Cities with active engagement beyond Glasgow include Saitama City, Japan; Bilbao, Spain; Wuhan, China; and Da Nang, Vietnam. 

Glasgow has recently established partner and frontrunner city relationships with Santiago, Chile and Berlin, Germany.

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