Dreams of Mud and Concrete: Dissonant Memory Landscapes and the Struggle over Infrastructure Development in Los Platanitos, Dominican Republic - Article

Oct 19, 2026

Memory-based storytelling supports co-productive planning grounded in endogenous epistemologies and ways of being. The article examines how ambivalent memory performances—rooted in the speaker’s embodied, emplaced recollections—reveal contested community histories, enable critical learning, and expand claim-making. Using a stormwater development case in Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo, it analyzes dissonant memory landscapes generated through conflicting testimonies and highlights implications for community-based planning practice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Memory, pain and pleasure in community histories

Embodied storytelling and planning implications

Planning Theory & Practice ISSN: 1464-9357 (Print) 1470-000X (Online) Journal [homepage: ](homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/rptp20)[www.tandfonline.com/journals/rptp20](homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/rptp20) Dreams of Mud and Concrete: Dissonant Memory Landscapes and the Struggle over Infrastructure Development in Los Platanitos, Dominican Republic Bjorn Sletto To cite this article: Bjorn S letto (2023) Dreams of Mud and Concrete: Dissonant Memory Landscapes and the Struggle over Infrastructure Development in Los Platanitos, Dominican Republic, Planning Theory & Practice, 24:5, 621-638, DOI: 10.1080/14649357.2023.2286989 To link to this article: [https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2286989](https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2286989) Published online: 06 Dec 2023. | Submit your article to this journal | | | --- | --- | | | Article views: 187 | | | View related articles | | View Crossmark data | | Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at [https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rptp20](https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rptp20) PLANNING THEORY & PRACTICE 2023, VOL. 24, NO. 5, 621–638 [https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2286989](https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2023.2286989) Dreams of Mud and Concrete: Dissonant Memory Landscapesand the Struggle over Infrastructure Development in Los Platanitos, Dominican Republic Bjorn Sletto University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA ABSTRACT Memory-based storytelling may contribute to co-productive planning approaches based on endogenous epistemologies and ways of being. Specifically, ambivalent memory performances, emerging from the embodied and emplaced memory of the speaker, reveal contested community histories, serve as a source of critical learning, and foster diverse forms of claims-making. By drawing on the case of a stormwater development project in the informal settlement of Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, this article considers the production of dissonant memory landscapes through ambivalent testimonies of community histories, illuminating the implications of such memory work for storytelling in community-based planning practice. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 29 December 2022 Accepted 19 November 2023 KEYWORDS memory; storytelling in planning; informal settlements; infrastructure development; Dominican Republic; Latin America Introduction When Catalino “Benito” Hernndez speaks of the past, he performs stories of pain and pleasure. He is one of the original founders of Los Platanitos, an informal settlement built on an abandoned landfill in one of the many canyons that drain from the central city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, into the Rio Isabela and from there to the Caribbean Sea. As Benito 1 recollects, he built his first home in the late 1980s along the banks of the ca~nada (creek) that once flowed through the canyon, infilling his lot with gravel and caliche soil to elevate his house above the waterline. After heavy rains, he would return to his lot only to find the foundation washed away overnight. All he could do, he says, was rellenar (infill) his parcel again until he won his struggle with mud and water. And then there was the flies and the smoke. The founders would burn the trash that had accumulated in the landfill over the years in order to prepare the ground before hauling in fill material and digging their latrines. The air would be thick with flies and pungent with the smell of burning garbage, Benito recalls, making it unpleasant to breathe and difficult to see. But Benito also speaks of perseverance, innovation, and solidarity. He recalls pooling resources to buy the first generator in the community, lending a hand to others in the rudimentary construction of the original homes, collectively tapping into city power lines and water mains, supporting the fledging informal economy through internal

FAQs

What does memory-based storytelling contribute to planning approaches?

It can support co-productive planning grounded in endogenous epistemologies and ways of being, linking storytelling to critical learning and claim-making.

How does the article analyze dissonant memory landscapes?

It examines dissonant memory landscapes produced through ambivalent testimonies of community histories in the context of a stormwater development project.

Where is the case study located and what is the project about?

The case study is in Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, focusing on a stormwater development project in an informal settlement.

Oct 19, 2026

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