Transborder City-Region Sustainability: Built Environment, Toxicants and Environmental Health
Area of Concentration
- US-Mexico Border Planning
Grand Challenge Overview
Today, half of the world’s population – approximately 6.6 billion – live in cities. These cities include an estimated 50,000 settlements with a minimum of 50,000 residents (Dye 2008). Also, some of most rapidly growing urban areas of the world are slums or irregular settlements found in poor countries, where the majority of future population growth will take place (Dye 2008). Growth along the US-Mexico border reflects this type of urbanization, making this region a natural laboratory to study and solve global sustainability issues dealing with irregular settlements. The U.S-Mexico border region is defined as the area that includes 62.5 miles (100-km) on either side of the international border and extends for almost 2000 miles. This region includes 14 sister cities with a combined population of approximately 12 million residents. The largest and most dynamic urban complex along the U.S.-Mexico border is the San Diego-Tijuana city region, with a combined population of nearly 5 million.
In recent decades, the explosive population growth of the border has lead to mostly unplanned development, inadequate infrastructure and the degradation of ecosystems, natural resources and public health (U.S. EPA 2012). Lack of infrastructure on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border, is in large part responsible for solid waste and wastewater issues that contribute significantly to the presence of toxicants in the border environment. Adding to these challenges is the fact that international borders bisect natural boundaries such as watersheds. The later not only introduces important political, legal, economic and cultural challenges to an already complex problem but has also contributed to the rise to cross-border flows that pose potential risks to the environment and human health on both sides of the border.
Citations:
Dye C. 2008. Health and Urban Living. Science 319: 766-769.
USEPA. 2003. Border 2012: U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program. Washington, DC.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
References 1
Books, Articles, Papers
Kiy, R. and N. Kada, Eds. 2004. Blurred Borders: Transboundary Impacts and Solutions in the San Diego-Tijuana Region. San Diego, International Community Foundation. Available:
http://www.icfdn.org/publications/blurredborders/documents/BBfullreport.pdf [Accessed 22 September 2009]
IMTA (Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua). 2004. Diagnostico Integral de la Subcuenca Hidrologica Los Laureles, Tijuana, B.C. [in Spanish] Resumen Ejecutivo. November 2004. 14 pp. Available: http://icfdn.org/initiatives/llc/RESUMENEJECUTIVOLaureles.pdf [Accessed 13 October 2007]
Pezzoli, K. (2000) Human Settlements and Planning for Ecological Sustainability: The Case of Mexico City. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
San Diego Dialogue. 2000. The Global Engagement of San Diego / Baja California. La Jolla, University of California, San Diego. Available:
http://www.crossborderbusiness.com/publicdocs/2006-CGMktgMaterials/0408-BioMedBriefing-final2.pdf
[Accessed 22 September 2009]
Sarabia, H. 2007. The Laureles Canyon: A Sustainability Laboratory at the Interface of Urban Sprawl and a Nature Preserve in the U.S-Mexico border. GPEIG: Newsletter of the Global Planning Educators Interest Group. Fall. Available: http://www.gpeig.org/index.php/resources/newsletters
Sarabia, H. 2008. Toxics in Tijuana’s Laureles Canyon: Irregular Settlements, Human Health and Ecosystem Integrity. GPEIG: Newsletter of the Global Planning Educators Interest Group. Summer. Available: http://www.gpeig.org/index.php/resources/detail/summer_2008_newlsetter
U.S. EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). U.S.-Mexico Border 2012 Program http://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder/intro.htm
References 2
Web Resources - Links and Data
Oscar Romo gives a tour of the Tijuana River Estuary. Available:
http://www.scivee.tv/node/5941
U.S. EPA. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). Border 2012 Program Website. Available:
http://www.epa.gov/border2012
SDSU (San Diego State University) Tijuana River Watershed Site. Available:
http://trw.sdsu.edu/
County of San Diego. Project Clean Water. Available:
http://www.projectcleanwater.org
ICF (International Community Foundation). Laureles Canyon Site. Available:
http://www.icfdn.org/initiatives/llc/llc.htm
Romo O. 2005. The Laureles Canyon Project. Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and UCSD Regional Workbench Consortium. Available:
http://www.regionalworkbench.org/databank/project_all.php?pid=25
Border Eco Web
Summary: The website provides and incredible wealth of information pertaining to environmental health issues along the U.S.-Mexico border region. It provides relevant information through listing an inventory of websites containing pertinent information on pollutants that are contributing to environmental degradation and health risks, organizations involved in collaborating and individual efforts, and information on each major region. The website also provides a directory of government agencies and other groups involved in activities dealing with the border environment, along with descriptions of their projects. Available:
http://www.borderecoweb.sdsu.edu/
Telesis Corporation U.S./Mexico Border Mapping Gateway
Summary: The following internet-based mapping services provide access to public health, epidemiological, demographic, environmental, topographic, and imagery information describing the health conditions along the United States/Mexico Border Region and selected state pairs. Available:
http://map.telesis.org/
Sustainable Agricultural Water Conservation in the Rio Grande: A Texas State University System Research Project
Summary: The website provides information on numerous projects and programs that link epidemiology and environmental health in the border region, namely the Texas-Mexico border region. This is an excellent source of academia that is geared towards creating a plan to improve and sustain good health through education and remediation. Available:
http://www.rivers.txstate.edu/rg/database_area_results.php?covid=8
Tox Town: Environmental Health Concerns and Toxic Chemicals Where You Live, Work, and Play
Summary: The website is an interactive map and explanation of the health hazards and risks that border populations in the border regions, especially those living in Colonias, are often exposed to. This is a great interactive teaching and learning tool which shows the connection and spatial interaction that puts inhabitants of the area at risk for health hazards. Available:
http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/index.html
UCSD-TV documentaries
Los Laureles Canyon: Research in Action UCSD-TV program follows researchers, students seeking sustainable solutions for Los Laureles Canyon settlement. There may be a border dividing us, but when it comes to the environmental challenges facing Los Laureles, a canyon that crosses the U.S.-Mexico border and spills into the sensitive wetlands of California’s Tijuana Estuary, we all must deal with the consequences. That’s why researchers and students from both countries have come together to try to affect change in this place that 65,000 people call home. The UCSD-TV documentary “Los Laureles Canyon: Research in Action” follows the story and premieres November 2 at 8pm on UCSD-TV, and online at http://www.ucsd.tv/loslaureles/
The Regional Workbench Consortium (#7244; 28 min. 2003)
“Principal investigator and regional planner Keith Pezzoli’s vision for a multi-disciplinary approach to sustainable development is explored in this tour of the Regional Workbench Consortium, a collaborative partnership and website that allows users to share the tools they need to improve quality of life and environmental stewardship in the Southern California-Northern Baja California region.” Available:
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.asp?showID=7244
Colonia 10 de Mayo, Tijuana, Mexico, Revitalization Plan (#6022; 20 min.)
The 10 de Mayo project. UCSD Conversations: Crossborder Urban Planning. The documentary starts three-quarters of the way into a one-hour program (what UCSD-TV calls “Conversations with UCSD Faculty”). Specifically, it starts at minute 39.01 as indicated on the slider (the first two 20 minute segments focus on biology and pharmacology). Available:
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.asp?showID=6022
PHOTO GALLERY: http://regionalworkbench.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3499
References 3
Key Organization / Institutions
University of California, San Diego/ Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC)
The RWBC is a federated network of collaborative regional-scale research projects and educational tools geared to promoting sustainable city-region and rural/tribal development. The institutional partners at UCSD include the Urban Studies and Planning Program, San Diego Supercomputer Center, Environment and Sustainability Initiative, and California Cultures in Comparative Perspective. There are many other external partners based in government, industry, community-based and tribal organizations (see: http://regionalworkbench.org/partners.php). The RWBC’s primary sphere of concern is the San Diego-Tijuana city-region spanning the U.S.-Mexico border. The RWBC is funded in large part by a grant (2000-2010) from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) through the Research Translation Core and Community Outreach Core of the University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP). Other sources of funding come into play as well. The RWBC provides organizational and technical support for regional-scale information integration and project-based knowledge sharing among university researchers and students, urban and regional planners, industry associations and local non-profit organizations. The RWBC is being developed in the spirit of several researcher interfaces such as the Biology Workbench (National Center for Supercomputing Applications), the Sociology Workbench (San Diego State University), the Environment Workbench (NASA), and the Scientist’s Workbench (Cornell).
Addressing Global Environmental Health Issues Along the U.S-Mexico Border
A recent initiative to help deal with pollution along the US-Mexico border, and to improve US-Mexico collaboration in science and policy-making, can be seen in a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) supported initiative to foster Global Environmental Health Networks15 The NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Programs (SBRPs) based at the University of Arizona and University of California, San Diego, held a workshop on March 12-14, 2007 to examine priority environmental health issues in population centers along the U.S.-Mexico border, identify a research agenda, build binational environmental health networks and explore applications of new technologies emerging from NIEHS funded SBRP programs throughout the country. This conference is part of the formal launch of a new EPA funded University of Arizona U.S.-Mexico Binational Center for Environmental Studies and Toxicology (Center). The idea for such a Center dates back over a decade - with the University of Arizona playing an especially important leadership role nationally and borderwide. There were at least six major conferences dedicated to the idea of establishing such a binational center. The University of Arizona gets credit for finally making it a reality. One of the last brainstorming sessions for what such a Center might do was the Conference on Environmental Research and Policy (ERP) hosted by UCSD’s SBRP in 2000, The ERP Conference identified many top environmental health priorities along the U.S.-Mexico border and the need for multidisciplinary centers positioned strategically in areas of greatest need with the goal of building capacity to address environmental health issues at the local level.
The new Center at the University of Arizona responds to the NIEHS’ major goals by focusing on border communities where exposures to toxic agents may be taking place and by developing the first model for a program in Global Environmental Health. While training scientist from both Mexico and the U.S. will be a major thrust of the center, part Center’s outreach and research translation will be dedicated to finding applications for SBRP technologies that have the potential to improve the detection of hazardous substances in the environment, minimize human exposures and clean up contaminated sites.
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