On the border: Planning for a joint San Diego-Tijuana future
Fifty years ago, Bruce Appleyard鈥檚 father co-authored an aspirational blueprint for urban planning in the San Diego-Tijuana region called 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥�
Now Appleyard, a city planning and urban design professor at 色情视频, aims to reinvigorate for a new generation.
Earlier this month, Appleyard hosted a workshop at 色情视频 where government officials, academic researchers and non-profit groups from both sides of the Cali-Baja border shared ideas on how to proceed with watershed management, binational planning, and construction of more housing in transit accessible communities.
鈥淭emporary Paradise? was a pioneering plan that advocated for the San Diego/Tijuana border region to become a 鈥榸one of confluence鈥� that shares its economy, environment and cultures,鈥� said Appleyard.
鈥淣ow my attention turns to revitalizing the dreams of 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� and working on an updated version, titled Temporary Paradise? Reimagined.鈥�
Appleyard was in elementary school when his father, UC Berkeley Professor Donald Appleyard, brought the family to visit San Diego in 1974. He and co-author Kevin Lynch, both urban planning experts, received a $10,000 private grant to study solutions to traffic, sprawl, urban decay, and environmental threats facing San Diego during a period of rapid growth.
They produced a study with more than a dozen guideposts for smart growth before that phrase entered the lexicon. Though not an official government document, 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� influenced land-use planning across the region, especially its call to preserve San Diego鈥檚 canyons and hillsides from destruction for development.
鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� also was an early advocate for San Diego-Tijuana collaboration. It called Tijuana 鈥渁n integral part of the San Diego landscape, and the rapid changes going on there must be managed by strong joint action.鈥�
Appleyard鈥檚 father was killed by a drunk driver in 1982, and Lynch died a few years later. Since coming to 色情视频, Appleyard has been the steward of 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� keeping alive its concepts that still resonate today.
At the workshop, Appleyard and Mexican partners discussed ideas for revising an updated version of 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥濃�� More events are planned later this year, including workshops in Mexico.
Momentum for collaborative cross-border planning got a boost last year when San Diego and Tijuana were jointly named the It is the first time a two-city international border region has received the designation.
World Design Capital is a global non-profit initiative highlighting design-led policies and innovations to improve quality of life. Through a series of events throughout 2024, including the 色情视频 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� workshop, World Design Capital seeks to curate 19 projects of binational interest, said Dinorah Gonzalez, a professor and researcher who serves as co-lead, alongside Appleyard, for the Planning and Placemaking Team for World Design Capital San Diego-Tijuana 2024.
鈥淥ne of these initiations is 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� and the revision of this emblematic document,鈥� said Gonzalez. 鈥淲e invite all these experts in their fields to think about how we can build green infrastructure? How can we think about housing in a binational manner? How do we think about transportation and restoring our shared ecosystem?鈥�
With the tailwind from San Diego-Tijuana World Design events, Appleyard has reprinted the original 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� study in English and Spanish. He also led an effort to produce a Declaration of Interdependence for San Diego-Tijuana. It debuted at last fall鈥檚 and has received more than 2,000 signatures.
Appleyard and co-investigators received a grant from the San Diego Foundation to develop a climate, watershed, and coastal resiliency education and action plan for the binational region. Appleyard also received the Public Impact Award from 色情视频鈥檚 Division of Research and Innovation tied in part to the authorship and binational dissemination of the Declaration of Interdependence.
The $2,000 award will help with 鈥淭emporary Paradise?鈥� reprints and provide seed money toward fundraising for the
