Binational Cooperation and Twinning: A View from the US–Mexican Border, San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California

Economic drivers in cross-border regional innovation systems

“…In Cali-Baja, the large economic asymmetries across the border (Ganster & Collins, 2017) pushed Mexican immigration towards southern California. Latinos represent the highest minority population share in San Diego County (32% in 2010), which, in turn, shapes the local 'bi-national' culture.…”

“…Therefore, the two city councils work closely to manage a broad spectrum of issues as set out in the MoU) signed in 2017. Public authorities, private stakeholders and NGOs are engaged in the cross-border cooperation process through different networks (Cappellano & Makkonen, 2019;Ganster & Collins, 2017), as represented in the Table 2. In Cascadia, the two sides of the border experienced a longstanding competition for trade with Asia and recently as world-class technology hubs. The larger geographical distance between the regional powerhouses, Seattle (Washington) and Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), impedes tight relationships as in the southern California CBR.…”

“…Institutional proximity recalls 'the set of practices, laws, rules and routines that facilitate collective action' (Lazzeretti & Capone, 2016, p. 5857). In CBRs, it can be interpreted as the capability of local institutions to set up a legal framework (e.g., cooperative agreements and memorandums of understanding) for cross-border integration (Ganster & Collins, 2017). Organizational proximity is not considered in this discussion since it refers to subsidiaries, units, departments or establishments within an organizational structure (e.g., corporate groups) (Balland et al, 2015).…”

Building a Transregional Governance Architecture for Electricity Integration in the Baja California–California Border Region: The Cases of Tijuana and Mexicali

“…The respective national governments have not supported the BC–CA relationship; governance structures and relations are based on public and private actors performing locally since the first electricity connections were installed in the region (Ganster & Collins, ). Transregional energy relations include not only market actors related through transnational networks but a series of governmental institutions, regulations, and public–private agreements, which affect regional behavior and are located in specific spaces (López‐Vallejo, ; Spaargaren et al, ).…”

“…First, the main goal of governance architectures is to “coordinate action that addresses simultaneously multiple dimensions of collective and typically convoluted long‐term problems” (Borrás & Radaelli, , p. 464). Although the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has drafted regional border projects in the past, the city‐to‐city and state‐to‐state cooperation in BC–CA, especially on energy, is sporadic and usually overlaps between the two federal governments, avoiding going forward to consolidate cross‐border governance (Ganster & Collins, ; SANDAG, ; Sweedler, ; Sweedler et al, ). SANDAG’s, Regional Energy Strategy recognizes that it addresses mainly California cities and that, “continued coordination between California and Baja California can help identify common issues, interdependencies, and policies and actions to address energy planning and infrastructure on both sides of the border” (SANDAG, , p. ).…”