Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities Affordable housing in border cities: The work of Esperanza de Mexico in Tijuana Mauricio Soto-Rubio ⁎ , Vanessa Hausman Faculty of Environmental Design, School of Architecture, University of Calgary, Professional Faculties Building, Room 2182, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada ABSTRACT This paper explores the socio-economic conditions that produce the lack of affordable housing in cities along the U.S.-Mexico border and describes various efforts to tackle this issue. Specifically, the paper evaluates publicly funded initiatives such as Casas Urbi and Homex, privately funded projects, as well as community based initiatives such as the work of the non-profit organization Fundación Esperanza de Mexico in the city of Tijuana. The paper interrogates the use of self-build construction systems, volunteer support, community empowerment, ecological programs, and affordable financing as a framework for future affordable housing developments in the area. 1. Introduction In cities along the southern part of the U.S-Mexico border, the proliferation of manufacturing plants commonly known as maquiladoras has generated increased working opportunities, the rapid growth in the population, demographic changes, and the expansion of the city. This has resulted in the lack of sufficient adequate and affordable housing options, with many immigrants seeking informal housing that even- tually becomes permanent. In response, several government agencies, private developers as well as non-profit organizations have im- plemented different strategies to develop affordable housing options. Among these are Casas Homex, Urbi, Geo, privately funded self-help projects, as well as the work of the non-profit organization Fundación Esperanza the Mexico (FEM). 1.1. Tijuana, a Changing City The demand for affordable housing in Tijuana drastically increased in the 1960s, when manufacturing companies started building plants along the U.S.-Mexico border (Davis & Cairns, 2003:239). This eco- nomic strategy was part of the original free-trade zone agreement be- tween the two countries and it was intended to reduce Mexican un- employment, to stimulate industrial development with foreign investment, to improve Mexico's commercial deficit with the U.S., and to encourage U.S.-Mexico joint business ventures (Williams & Homedes, 2001:321). However, the rapid increase in the number of plants also generated important socio-economic and environmental issues in both countries. The northern half of Mexico was deliberately targeted for factories, with 735 manufacturing plants in Tijuana alone in 2001 (Williams & Homedes, 2001:321). This resulted in a massive growth of the local economy but it also led to a major decline of Mexico's interior market (Davis & Cairns, 2003:242). Perhaps more significantly, the limited resources of the area and the growth of the population resulted in the lack of sufficient affordable housing. In an effort to provide so- lutions, the Mexican government subsidized the completion of many settlements for low-income families. Unfortunately, these colonies were often isolated and lacked basic utilities such as water, sewage, elec- tricity, or paved roads. In addition, the environmental impact in the city included increased air and water pollution that affected the public health of its inhabitants. No planning was done to support the required infrastructure for the immense industrial growth, releasing toxic sub- stances from the manufacturing plants into the sewage systems (Williams & Homedes, 2001:6). Tijuana's Northern twin city, San Diego, also experienced important environmental issues, with “drinking water being hauled or acquired via shallow, dug wells that quickly become tainted by human waste, pesticide runoff, or heavy metals present in the surrounding soil” (Davis & Cairns, 2003:242). Similar issues con- tinued along the El Paso-Juarez border, with an estimated 1.5 million U.S. residents living in informal housing developments (Davis & Cairns, 2003:243). For the last 60 years, the Mexican government has continued to look for alternatives to address the lack of affordable housing in border ci- ties. These include large-scale top-down publicly funded initiatives as well as privately financed self-help affordable housing projects. In ad- dition, local non-profit organizations have proliferated in the area and implemented bottom-up strategies to work together with communities https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.12.016 Received 3 May 2018; Received in revised form 6 December 2018; Accepted 17 December 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: mauricio.sotorubio@ucalgary.ca (M. Soto-Rubio). Cities 88 (2019) 76–82 0264-2751/ © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. T