Opinion: San Diego and Tijuana already function as a new region-state
The Cross Limit Xpress pedestrian bridge to the Tijuana airport File photo courtesy of CBX San Diego and Tijuana form a cross-border business sector of over million residents San Diego contributes strengths in research defense biotechnology and higher teaching while Tijuana has developed into a global hub for advanced manufacturing particularly in aerospace electronics and therapeutic devices The supply chains between the two cities are so tightly connected that the region functions as a single production system marketed by regional leaders as CaliBaja Every day thousands of people cross the international demarcation for work scrutiny shopping or healthcare Despite the presence of one of the busiest limit crossings in the world this daily movement reflects the deeply interdependent labor domain Initiatives like the Cross Margin Xpress a privately funded binational airport terminal linking San Diego directly to Tijuana International Airport demonstrate how infrastructure has adapted to regional realities that transcend national boundaries San Diego and Tijuana also share a vibrant cultural life Artists musicians and chefs frequently collaborate across the margin generating a hybrid identity that blends Mexican and American influences Tijuana s culinary innovation and San Diego s craft beer movement for instance have become shared cultural markers of the binational region Universities NGOs and civic groups also work across borders on issues ranging from environmental sustainability to human rights So do artists and musicians with popular events that exemplify the synergy between San Diego and Tijuana Among the binational cultural events are the Edge Jam Session M sica en la Calle in City Heights Art Scene Baja Opera en la Calle in Tijuana the San Diego International Fringe Festival Tijuana Design Week and annual Chicano Park Anniversary celebrations While not a formal political unit the San Diego Tijuana region has developed networks of governance that allow it to act as a coherent whole Organizations such as SANDAG and Tijuana s planning agencies coordinate sometimes informally on transportation water use and environmental conservation Academic research increasingly views the region as a laboratory for post-national governance where local collaboration often outpaces the ability of Washington D C or Mexico City to adapt San Diego Tijuana exemplifies the rise of the region-state in a globalized world a cross-border zone where economic creative and cultural forces bind communities more closely to each other than to their distant national capitals They highlight both the opportunities and challenges of st-century governance suggesting that the future of prosperity and innovation may lie less in nation-states and more in dynamic metropolitan regions The San Diego Tijuana metropolitan area is increasingly recognized as a region-state a concept first articulated by Kenichi Ohmae in The End of the Nation State Ohmae argued that in an era of globalization cross-border metropolitan zones rather than traditional nation-states function as the real engines of economic advance creative and cultural innovation San Diego Tijuana he argues is a prime example of this transformation More and more the arguments for making this official are compelling John M Eger is a professor emeritus in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University He previously served as telecommunications advisor to President Gerald R Ford legal assistant to FCC Chairman Dean Burch and Senior Vice President of CBS
