Tijuana-San Diego: Globalization and the transborder metropolis

This paper explores the degree to which the Tijuana-San Diego metropolitan region functions as a transborder metropolis. It is shown that the border is quite porous, especially for work and shopping. In addition, the two metropolitan economies are much more complementary than competitive, with San Diego specializing in high-order services and the “new economy” while Tijuana primarily functions as a manufacturing center, based on maquiladora. However, much more cooperation and collaboration are needed in several areas: improving trade infrastructure; addressing the deficits in social infrastructure (especially in Tijuana); making the border crossings more user-friendly; expanding educational opportunities for Latinos in both areas; more priority to environmental problems, especially air quality and sewerage; attempting to reduce the public sector fiscal differentials between the two areas; and more attention to income distribution issues.