Sustainable? Argh! Sustainability is not only about environmental considerations, but also the social and economic justice that is required to create truly sustainable urban ecosystems. Today, Tijuana is reknown for its violence, poverty and poor living and working conditions, and any pretty little green building will not change that. This post's beginning evocation of stumblingly drunk North American students visiting the city distract from the point of sustainable living - Tijuana should not be developed as a more fun playground for rich white kids, but rather as a safe, vital and thriving community for its currently impoverished and disenfranchised residents.

Susan, Thanks for your comment. You are totally right. Sustainability is a lot more than just saving on an energy bill, and your comment touches on a lot of the arguments people have against the development. To clarify, I don't think Tijuana is necessarily being developed for partiers from across the border. In fact, those 10,000 homes that were slotted last October were targeted for local residents who were working in the nearby Toyota plant. I think what is interesting, though if they truly wanted to be "sustainable" they could have done a lot more, the planners took into account resource concerns during the planning process and sought to incorporate at least a few sustainable aspects to the design of the community.

Susan - I agree with Ashwin. The "party" part of TJ is about 6 blocks long. The rest is a gigantic city that has nothing to do with "white kids" and everything to do with one of the most important economic centers of Mexico (and indeed North America).

I see nothing on the Urbi website that suggests it is marketed toward anything other than middle class Mexicans, otherwise it would be in English and be on the beach.

I haven't looked at it in great detail, but it seems like the sort of development that is very good for Mexico and combative of poverty and economic inequality as much as it may be environmentally 'green'

When I read the title of this post, I couldn't help but think of other recent feature articles on the city (LA Times and USA Today both ran feature stories in the last month). Repeatedly residents of the city spoke of living in a state of fear due to the constant and unpredictable violence; Tijuana reports more kidnappings than any city in the world other than Baghdad. In the last 18 months, the Mexican government has dispatched 3,000 troops to the city to quell violence, occasionally leading to public gunfights with organized gangs.
The wealthiest residents under constant guard and seclusion, the middle class departing for the U.S. for safety, and the poor ... well, as poor as ever - how could this ever be a sustainable city? Certainly, there can be exciting and noteworthy green building projects in Tijuana and elsewhere, but they can't mask underlying social and economic weaknesses that contribute to unsustainable lives for its residents - perhaps that's the really story here.
Coverage of Urbi is still welcomed, though, and it looks like an interesting project. The idea of an planned, contained eco-community of this scale seems challenging considering the current widespread furor over plans for 10 ecotowns in the UK...

Thanks Susan, I think your point is well taken. I went to TJ a few months ago and was pleasantly surprised in my wanderings that it wasn't a lot unlike many other Mexican cities I've visited, clearly having problems, but generally seemed quite prosperous. granted, I was there during the day and didn't wander into the rough parts.

The consensus I've read is that there is a thriving middle class in Tj, outside the drug cartels, due to the maquiladoras and other cross-border trade that has all the potential to turn the city around. But obviously, the US demand for Cocaine remains the principal problem...