Infrastructure

Many urban problems in Mexican border cities are linked to problems with the urban infrastructure, such as the lack of water, sewers, and electricity. The maquila factories require large amounts of infrastructure to function properly, and as cities and town grow up around the maquilas, they too require certain resources. The existing facilities are not enough. As Lindquist (2001) says, "the border plants also are strapping the country's overburdened infrastructure." Part of the problem lies in what infrastructure is built for what purposes as a reaction to the maquilas. Elliot (2001) points out that, "infrastructure favors industry, even as colonias persist without telephone service, water or sewage connections, or even electricity." However, infrastructure improvements are necessary in the towns and cities that the maquiladora workers call home. Many of these workers live in improvised villages made from scrap materials, with no running water or electricity. Most of the infrastructure built in the interest in of the maquilas comes in the form of roads. Elliot (2001) says that Mexicali (the capital of Baja California) has a network of high-quality roads that serve the industry. Almada (1993) says, "pavement is the priority in a city where half the people have no sewer system" (quoted in LaBotz 1993). In other words, it should go without saying that the maquilas would encourage development throughout the city, and that the whole city, including residents, would benefit. However, it seems that improvements specific to industry are the only ones being made. When it comes to infrastructure, industry's needs come first and the needs of the citizens are left behind. Elliot (2001) says, Large-scale industrial development of Mexican border towns...has served to inexorably influence the process of urban development. Land use planning has accommodated the demands of industrialization by zoning large parcels as la ciudad industrial and implementing road building and utility infrastructure programs to facilitate (and subsidize) industrial development. The maquilas have brought some infrastructural improvement to border cities that would not have otherwise existed. However, many of the improvements did not lead to better quality of life for the residents of the towns, who work in the maquilas. Many people still reside in colonias with no running water or electricity. This is a problem that will need to be addressed. As Barry states in "Dual Development: The Neverending Promise," people agree that "the border zone is sadly lacking the underlying foundation of social and economic facilities (adequate housing, roads, bridges, wastewater treatment plants, etc) necessary for continued growth" (1994).