SAN DIEGO—Urban Land Institute's San Diego-Tijuana District Council is celebrating the signing of an agreement that will take the organization one step further in its efforts to catalyze cross-border collaboration for land planning. On February 22, the district council's executive director Mary Lydon and Consejo de Desarrollo Economico de Tijuana director David Moreno signed a contract for a downtownTijuana Technical Assistance Panel (TAP), to be coordinated and executed by ULI representatives.

TAP programs are comprised of experts from ULI's local District Council in various fields that focus on a real estate or land use issue facing a San Diego region community. Panelists provide creative recommendations for solutions that advance innovative land planning principles. TAP chair Greg Shannon of Sedona Pacific led the effort to form this agreement and will assemble the TAP panel of experts.

In Mid-March, the panel will travel to downtown Tijuana to meet with city representatives andstakeholders and to tour the study area. The plan will focus on revitalizing the downtown area, or Zona Centro, which has declined dramatically since the loss of American tourists following 9/11 and the drug cartel violence, as well as the hurdle of re-entry delays at the border. The panel will subsequentlydiscuss and formulate ways in which the City of Tijuana can stimulate redevelopment through public, public/private and private development.