Examining Community-driven Resilience And Participatory Adaptation In Latin American Informal Settlements: Insights From Argentina And Chile

Jessica Ports Robbins

February 25, 2026

• Emilia Portis, National University of Rosario

• Paula Piccolo, National University of Rosario

Summary:

Informal settlements across Latin America are disproportionately exposed to climaterelated hazards while facing chronic infrastructural deficits and tenure insecurity. This qualitative study examines community-led adaptation and participatory practices in two cases-El Esfuerzo (Valparaíso, Chile) and Nuevo Alberdi (Rosario, Argentina)-to inform equitable urban resilience frameworks. Drawing on 28 key informant interviews, four focus groups, participatory mapping, and field observation, the analysis documents housing and infrastructure adaptations; local knowledge systems, mutual aid, and communication networks; and the enabling and constraining roles of urban policy, governance continuity, and tenure security. Findings show residents actively reduce exposure and cope with recurrent hazards (floods, wildfires, and landslides) through incremental housing upgrades, neighborhood works, and collective emergency practices, yet the scale, durability, and equity of these efforts hinge on secure tenure, integrated basic services, and institutionalized co-decision.

The paper advances a rights- and justiceoriented approach to resilience, highlighting the need for multi-role state actionregulatory, redistributive, and enabling-alongside gender-responsive care infrastructures and participatory data systems. Policy recommendations connect grassroots practices to structural reforms that can transform reactive coping into durable adaptation pathways.