Salford has links with four European towns. Twinning agreements arise in different ways and there are different types of twinning.
There are different types of agreement. Most agreements are commitments to friendship and co-operation. They can be very limited - a civic exchange, for example. They can, as in Salford, be very broad and community-orientated. There has also been a recent development of twinning between British towns and those in developing countries where the emphasis is on technical assistance.
It is up to local authorities to establish their own criteria which are usually about similarity in size and function, resources available and existing links.