San Diego - Tijuana

San Diego, USA (left) - Tijuana, MX (right)

Only a fence separates the rich San Diego (California, USA) from the poor Tijuana (Baja California, Mexico). Both in the west coast of North America, California has the largest Gross State Product (GSP) of the USA, and its personal income per capita was $38,956 in 2006. Baja California has the 8^th largest GSP of Mexico, with a personal income per capita about 6,000$ in 2004.

From 1950 to 2008 Tijuana’s population has increased from 100,000 to 1.5 Millions inhabitants basically due to two reasons: the amount of people going there trying to cross the border and its fast industrialization process (mainly focused on maquiladoras).

In the last 20 years, the profile of the “border walker” from Mexico to USA has changed a lot. Nowadays they are no more farmers but middle class people from urban areas, with a stable job and even with college degree.

This rapid population growth has changed the city’s structure and landscape.

At first, Tijuana was growing without much order but in accessible flat areas. But the real problem started when it was no more land available and houses were built in illegal settlements, in areas with high risk in case of natural disaster, such as mountains’ slopes, rivers’ basins, near uncontrolled landfills, and so on. Besides the problem of high vulnerability to natural disasters related to climate (flooding, drought, etc.), these districts also have a lack of basic services (healthcare centres, water supply, electricity...).