BajaNews - 5-26-2012 at 10:25 AM
http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20120524cya&...
By CARLOS RICO
May 25, 2012
The population of Tijuana is estimated to double by 2032, creating a need for 54,430 acres of urban land and housing, according to the president of
the Tijuana Economic Development Corp.
“Population growth is going to explode over the next 20 years,” said David Mayagoitia, who led a Thursday discussion on new community developments in
Tijuana, and the necessity for new towns and suburban communities, at an Urban Land Institute of San Diego/Tijuana luncheon.
The current population of Tijuana is roughly 1.56 million people, according to 2010 census numbers.
Traditionally, throughout Mexico, little planning has guided development and construction.
Because the county is so poor, residents would build homes and storefronts a little at a time. There is also hardly any zoning regulations, which
means there are no master-planned developments.
“Planning in Mexico is driven by the public, by about 90 percent,” Mayagoitia said. “Developers react and they conform to it.”
But now the Mexican government is looking to be proactive and address development head on to meet population growth with “D.U.I.S.” -- Desarrollos
Urbanos Integrales Sustenables -- or in English, integrated sustainable urban development.
It brings together urban and regional developments like housing, transportation, commerce, education and recreation, as part of collaborative projects
with government agencies and master plan developers.
“The DUIS is a way for the (Mexican) government to actually spell out how they want to see development occur and how collaborative projects are going
to be done,” said Mayagoitia, adding that urban development in Mexico is being driven by population and housing growth.
Part of this new planning practice will include social, economic and environmental sustainability with amenities such as schools, walking and biking
trails, homes, shopping centers and water treatment facilities.
There are three examples of DUIS in Tijuana in the suburbs of the city, about 10-12 miles from downtown Tijuana: Valle de San Pedro, Los Nogales and
Natura.
Valle de San Pedro is a new master-planned development approximately 12 miles southeast of the Otay Mesa border crossing developed by Urbi Desarrollos
Urbanos, a publically traded home builder in Mexico.
It is a 14,478-acre plan that would have 10,457 acres of urban development consisting of 160,840 low-income households, green corridors and bicycle
routes, an industrial park, sports complex, schools and shopping centers.
It is also designed to supply 8,000 construction, design and development jobs, and 5,000 commerce and service-sector jobs.
So far, there has been 2,000 homes built and a public university with 3,000 students attending.
There are already roads, and public transportation to and from Valle de San Pedro.
“The developers want a sustainable city,” Mayagoitia said.
Los Nogales is a suburban downtown by El Florido, just west of Valle de San Pedro and directly south of Otay Mesa.
This 341-acre master planned community calls for lofts and townhomes, retail and restaurants, hotels, education and technology parks, hospitals and
clinics, transit center and meeting spaces and open green space for trails, bicycle paths, parks and gardens.
Natura by Grupo Musa is just west of Los Nogales. This master plan is designed for a quarter of a million people with a downtown plan for retail shops
and housing; a city park with ecological areas for camping, hiking and mountain climbing; a commercial district for a shopping center with anchor
stores; an education park with schools and universities; and a boys and girls club.
“We need to build new towns for the expected population growth and housing needs,” said Mayagoitia, explaining that there is no open space in
Tijuana’s central area for master planned communities with social, environmental and economic drivers.
Something's not right here.
durrelllrobert - 5-26-2012 at 04:51 PM
The population of Tijuana is estimated to double by 2032, creating a need for 54,430 acres of urban land
____________________________________________________
The current population is (roughly) 1.56 million. Therefore if it doubles, the increase will be 1.56 million and 54,430 acres divided by 1,560,000
people is only 8 square ft (land and housing) per person. Must be very small Mexicans.
Ooops! my calculator is wrong (or too much vodka). It';s actually 1,256 sq ft/ person. Still seems small
[Edited on 5-26-2012 by durrelllrobert]
[Edited on 5-26-2012 by durrelllrobert]
[Edited on 5-27-2012 by durrelllrobert]