What’s Old Is New Again: Planned Relocation, Climate Adaptation and Urban Informality in Uruguay

Abstract

As climate impacts escalate, planned relocation has emerged as a prominent adaptation response within global climate policy debates, particularly in relation to low-income and marginalized populations in the Global South. It is widely framed as a voluntary, last-resort measure aimed at moving communities away from harm. In recent years, an increasing number of countries have incorporated planned relocation into national climate adaptation strategies and policy commitments. This dissertation examines the case of Uruguay, one of the first countries to incorporate state-led relocation into its climate policy framework. It asks: How does planned relocation materialize as a climate change adaptation (CCA) policy principle? What struggles emerge from articulating planned relocation in these terms, and with what outcomes? What are the broader implications of advancing planned relocation as a CCA strategy? Through a discourse analysis and multi-scalar relational case study approach drawing on field observations, interviews and documentary analysis, this dissertation shows that relocation initiatives framed as CCA responses are deeply rooted in longer trajectories of state intervention associated with the governance and eradication of urban informality. The findings show that relocation programs were reframed through political and discursive negotiation following the formalization of relocation as an adaptation at the global level. As argued, this uptake of the CCA discourse was not only driven by environmental concerns, but also by strategic motivations, including access to international funding, the pursuit of institutional legitimacy and alignment with global policy agendas. At the same time, reframing relocation in these terms has generated significant struggles, reflecting tensions between national policy frameworks and local implementation practices, as well as competing priorities between housing, environmental management and urban development. The findings of this dissertation underscore that advancing planned relocation as a CCA strategy has had significant socio-spatial implications in Uruguay. It contributed to the consolidation of relocation as the default response in informal settlements exposed to environmental hazards, limiting the use of in-situ alternatives, and reinforcing uneven patterns of intervention. Despite being framed as a protective and rights-based measure, it is often experienced as a constrained process, where residents have limited capacity to refuse, negotiate or meaningfully shape outcomes. More broadly, the dissertation stresses that CCA discourse helps justify and reshape existing practices of reorganizing urban space, raising concerns about climate (in)justice. Overall, the findings suggest that climate change discourse has contributed to the legitimation of relocation, reshaping how informality is governed through new forms of intervention that prioritize environmental risk and territorial reorganization.