The Twinning of the East explores new urban narratives and theorisations based on the rising phenomenon of transnational urban networks within the Asia-Pacific region. It particularly discusses the spatial configurations of urban spaces under the framework of sister cities between South Korea and Vietnam. This research asks: How is placemaking between sister cities linked to local, national, and transnational dynamics? How do social relationships intertwine with the processes of making, remaking, and unmaking places between sister cities? To what extent does placemaking genuinely foster sisterhood among cities and accelerate city growth and citizen well-being? In answering these questions, The Twinning of the East discusses the intersections between historical and contemporary dynamics, transnational and domestic processes, and structural and individual practices in transnational urban partnerships, particularly among small Asian cities. This is significant as urban geographers have long emphasised inter-city networks of Western world cities while neglecting the cross-border connections of small Asian ones. 

The Twinning of the East highlights the transition of South Korean local government’s internationalisation, shifting from a trend driven by globalisation and local autonomy revival in the 1990s to a survival strategy based on immigration projects in response to demographic crises in the 2020s. The mobility of labour resources within sister city partnerships thus reframes South-North migration not merely as a choice but as a necessity for the destination country. This necessity is shaped by the East Asian country’s low birth rates, labour shortages, local university crisis, and urban shrinkage. Further, The Twinning of the East employs local perspectives to elaborate on the participation of Vietnamese cities in sister city collaboration and placemaking with their Korean counterparts. This research challenges traditional discussions on North-South urban hierarchies by advocating for the repositioning of Southern cities in transnational city networks.

This inter-Asian analysis proposes incorporating localised knowledge to elaborate on Southern experiences and juxtaposing contemporary Northern dynamics in the study of North-South engagements, especially within the Asia-Pacific region. The Twinning of the East particularly contributes to a nuanced understanding of the ‘worlding’ of small Asian cities, which, despite not being entirely recent, has historically been marginalised in urban studies that primarily focus on global cities and the West.