Walls of Apartheid

Robert Frost claimed, "Good fences make good neighbors" but I am going to argue the opposite. Walls are a form of segregation that results in the creation of border cities: cities that suffer from instability and socio-economic segregation. Perhaps the Berlin Wall was one of the most memorable walls of division and in spite of that, separation walls still exist and are a growing industry.

Walls that are still standing (in Red)

(source: 2009 © Éric Mottet, Département de géographie, UQAM.)

It has been reported that in the past 8 years, twenty-two walls have been built. But the focal point of this article is to compare two very controversial walls, the West Bank barrier and the U.S and Mexico border. Below is a diagram showing visually the similarities and differences of both walls.

Venn Diagram – comparing both walls

The function of both walls

Both walls have been built to fulfill a function whether it’s political or for security reasons. The U.S/Mexico border has been built to keep people out and reduce immigration to the states. However, the West Bank barrier is intended to protect Israelis from the plague of West Bank suicide bombers by keeping them out of Israel and by containing them in parts of the West Bank. Ironically, both walls are constructed on a false sense of identity. The US was founded on immigration and now it is desperate to keep people out. Israel was supposed to have been an inclusive 2-people state after the Holocaust to protect victims, not make more.

The Impact of the walls on the bordering cities

-Tijuana

(San Diego- Left & Tijuana- Right)

Border City Tijuana has been greatly influenced in its urban form by the barrier that has brought various consequences such as the existence of slums, poverty and social segregation. The result has been a border city, which has fused the traditional Latin pattern of economically, undifferentiated urban settlements. Also, economically segregated residential neighborhoods and larger commercial centers.

(Tijuana slums and poverty settlements)

(Una colonia residencial - residential areas for the wealthy in Tijuana)

The fact that Tijuana is the center city between the U.S and Mexico is the reason for the city being focused on commercial and industrial purposes. The signage, the commercial residence and the buildings, which contain them strongly indicate a local economy biased to tourism and casual cross-border services condition.

There have been plans to accommodate the demands of the industries and implement road building and utility infrastructure to facilitate industrial development but not development to aid their pedestrians. Thus, Tijuana remains a city to the coming and going but not the staying.

-West Bank Barrier

Israel (Left), Palestine (Right)

The barrier itself sprawls across and through a variety of landscapes and passage roads. Although the barrier outlines the West Bank, it deviates to create separation between a number of Israeli settlements and the surrounding Palestinian population.

(Parts of the wall unfinished)

This barrier has an enormous negative effect to the urban form of the area. The wall that includes concrete slabs is located in the mid of communities imposing splitting towns, villages, streets, and even extended families. Palestinians perspective on the wall is that it’s a land grab. In some places the wall separates farmers from their farm making it hard to access their land, which results in infertile lands.

Villagers argued that the barrier is causing permanent harm by disrupting transportation, commerce, agriculture, and the ability of the villages to expand, to access water, and to reach to services.

(A farmer trying to get to his farm through the barrier)

Jerusalem, (another border city) urban fabric is threatened by overcrowding, lack of maintenance and poor services. The urban fabric has suffered from neglect, inappropriate use and inadequate services, with many people living in dilapidated buildings in unsanitary conditions.

(Jerusalem living conditions)

The old city of Nablus at the Palestinian side of the border is surrounded with three large refugee camps with more then 35,000 inhabitants. The city is considered as one important economic center in the West Bank despite its urban underdevelopment.

(Refugee camp in Nablus)
(Destroyed parts at the refugee camp)

The West Bank barrier will remain a controversial wall that is taking a toll on all the cities it is crossing by. If security was the reason, then why has the number of deaths increased due to the barriers?

Walls do not make those who live on either side of them good neighbors. They exist because of fears and uncertainties towards the idea of independence. Their main purpose is to act as vertical structures that enclose or divide a vast area of land. However, historically they've served purposes that go beyond being a simple building structure.