Inventing space in the cañada: Tracing children's agency in Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Children in the informal settlement of Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, actively challenge negative perceptions of their environment by redefining the liminal space of the cañada—a polluted waterway—as a source of agency and creativity. Through play, imagination, and representation, they transform tropes of decay, filth, and danger into meaningful elements of their urban experience. This study highlights the potential for children's placemaking practices to inspire radical, everyday-based approaches to urban planning that move beyond traditional discourses of citizenship-formation and technical interventionism.

Sletto, B., & Diaz, O. O. (2015). Inventing space in the cañada : Tracing children’s agency in Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 47(8), 1680–1696. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x15597104