As the world's cities undergo explosive growth, inequality is intensifying. Wealthy neighborhoods and impoverished slums grow side by side, the gap between them widening. In this eye-opening talk, architect Teddy Cruz asks us to rethink urban development from the bottom up. Sharing lessons from the slums of Tijuana, Cruz explores the creative intelligence of the city's residents and offers a fresh perspective on what we can learn from places of scarcity.

How architectural innovations migrate across borders

Cities worldwide are being shaped by growing inequality, with wealthy enclaves and slums existing side by side. Just 20 minutes from some of Latin America's poorest settlements, San Diego has grown six times larger than neighboring Tijuana, highlighting stark contrasts in urban development. By studying how migrant communities in Tijuana creatively repurpose discarded materials, new models for resilient and equitable cities emerge. These bottom-up approaches reveal that the most inventive solutions often come from society’s margins, not its centers of power.