The politics of spatial memory and the Barrio: Narratives of climate-led adaptation and dispossession

This article examines a risk-reduction intervention in an informal settlement in the Global South through the lens of historical legacies and discourses. Specifically, we investigate a large upgrading project in Domingo Savio, a flood-prone barrio marginado (marginal informal settlement) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We propose ‘the politics of spatial memory’ as a framework for understanding how historical legacies and narratives shape contemporary climate adaptation efforts. The article examines three interrelated dimensions. First, it establishes how past socio-political dynamics have contributed to the settlement's enduring vulnerability. Second, it identifies parallels between past and present urban renewal efforts, revealing persistent patterns of state-led spatial marginalization. Lastly, the article explores how historical narratives are strategically employed by key stakeholders in the project. While the state leverages these histories to justify the intervention as a form of ‘reparation’—thereby garnering political support—non-governmental organizations and barrio residents mobilize the same temporal discourses to challenge state-driven narratives, foregrounding recurrent cycles of displacement and dispossession. Our analysis underscores that the politics of memory is both social and spatial, shaping responses to environmental risks.