Two children in Lima can live just a few kilometers apart and grow up in completely different worlds. One walks on paved sidewalks to a nearby school, turns on a tap for clean water and reaches a clinic in minutes. The other climbs a dirt slope to get anywhere, waits for a water truck and spends hours reaching basic services. That gap is what spatial justice is about.
The difference isn't only income. It's place. Spatial justice is the idea that where people live shapes their access to resources, rights and opportunities, and that fairness has to include the way cities are built.
In this article, you will learn what spatial justice means, how it plays out in Lima's hillside communities, and how infrastructure and planning can help close the gap between neighborhoods.
What is spatial justice?
Spatial justice connects social justice to how society is organized in space. It asks a simple question: are resources like housing, transport, water and public space distributed fairly across a city?
Where the idea comes from
Geographer David Harvey explored how cities both shape and reflect social inequality in Social Justice and the City (1973). Edward W. Soja later developed spatial justice as its own framework in Seeking Spatial Justice (2010), arguing that space is not just a backdrop for injustice but an active part of it.
Three dimensions of spatial justice
| Dimension | Key question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Distributive | Who gets which resources? | Which neighborhoods have water, transit and parks |
| Procedural | Who makes decisions about space? | Whether residents have a voice in local projects |
| Recognitional | Whose needs are seen and respected? | Whether informal neighborhoods are recognized at all |
Spatial justice in Lima's hillside communities
A divided city
Lima is a city of about 10 million people, and close to a million live in human settlements on the rocky hillsides around it. The contrast between neighborhoods can be stark. The Lima Wall of Shame became a symbol of that divide, separating wealthy districts from the settlements beside them.
Access to services
In many hillside neighborhoods, families lack connections to water, sewage and electricity. Legal recognition of land is often required to request these services, so communities without land titles can stay disconnected for years.
Mobility and distance
For many residents, the hardest part of reaching school, work or a clinic is the first stretch: a steep, unpaved path. Sustainable mobility frameworks stress that access should not depend on income or location, which is a core idea of spatial justice.
Public space
Safe places to play, gather and rest are often missing in low-income areas. Our article on the social benefits of playgrounds shows how public spaces support children and families.
How infrastructure and planning can move toward spatial justice
Spatial justice isn't only a theory. It shows up in everyday decisions about what gets built, where and for whom. Small projects can matter as much as large ones, because a single staircase can change how a whole neighborhood reaches the rest of the city.
- Infrastructure that connects: staircases and retaining walls make hillside neighborhoods safer and link families to services
- Community-led priorities: residents decide what their neighborhood needs most
- Recognition: permanent infrastructure can support a community's case for land titles and utilities
- Policy: decisions at the city and national level shape who gets services first, as explored in our article on housing policies and community safety
Safe Homes Movement, powered by MEDLIFE, works with communities on this kind of infrastructure. Every project follows a 50/50 model: residents identify the need and work on site, and local architects and engineers lead the design and supervise construction.
Learning spatial justice on the ground
For students in urban planning, architecture, engineering and social development, seeing spatial justice in a real neighborhood is very different from reading about it. On the development service learning trip, students take a Reality Tour of the settlements where Safe Homes works, then join residents and local professionals on projects in Lima, Cusco and Tena.
See spatial justice from the hillside
Spatial justice becomes clearer when you walk the path residents walk every day and help build what changes it.
Fill out the form to get dates, eligibility details and next steps for the Development Service Learning Trip.
Frequently asked questions
What is spatial justice?
Spatial justice is the idea that social justice must include how space is organized, including how housing, transport, water and public spaces are distributed across a city.
Who developed the concept of spatial justice?
David Harvey explored the link between cities and social justice in 1973. Edward W. Soja developed spatial justice as a distinct framework in his 2010 book Seeking Spatial Justice.
How does spatial justice relate to infrastructure?
Infrastructure determines who can reach schools, jobs, clinics and clean water. Where infrastructure is missing, communities face barriers that others don't, which is a central concern of spatial justice.