San Juan Caño Martín Peña ENLACE Plan
Core idea
Canal restoration + community land trust
Why it matters
Equitable climate adaptation
Description
The ENLACE Caño Martín Peña Comprehensive Development Plan, developed from 2007 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, addresses eight informal communities along a degraded tidal channel connecting the San Juan Bay estuary. Led by the ENLACE Project corporation with sustained community participation, it combines the dredging and ecological restoration of the canal with drainage and infrastructure improvements, housing rehabilitation and relocation, and the creation of the Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust to secure residents' tenure. The plan was drawn up with the communities rather than imposed upon them.
Significance
The ENLACE plan is internationally recognised as a leading example of equitable climate adaptation and participatory upgrading, and its community land trust, which won the World Habitat Award, pioneered the application of collective tenure to informal settlements. It is widely cited in debates on green gentrification, demonstrating how environmental restoration can be coupled with anti-displacement mechanisms.
What shaped it
- Environmental justice (1982 / 1991)
- John Turner & self-help housing (1972-1976)
- Governing the Commons (Ostrom) (1990)
- Le Droit a la ville (Lefebvre) (1968)
Sources
- https://www.epa.gov/urbanwaterspartners/achievements-and-accomplishments-cano-martin-pena
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19463138.2022.2096616
- https://world-habitat.org/awards/winners/cano-martin-pena-community-land-trust/