Oral presentation: Anna Karla de Almeida Milani

The presentation examines the long-term socio-ecological consequences of oil refining in Aruba through the spatial history of the Lago Oil and Transport Company and its company town in San Nicolaas. Founded in 1929, the refinery reorganized the San Nicolaas territory around the oil refinery, reshaping coastal environments, labor geographies, and urban form. Working-class neighborhoods such as Lago Colony were planned with controlled infrastructures and environmental buffering for expatriate workers, especially coming from the USA, while local and other migrant communities were residents in Essoville and Lagoville, having limited company services and reinforcing spatial and social segregation based on color and origin. 

The study observes how spatial arrangements produced enduring patterns of environmental inequality. Housing typologies, zoning decisions, and proximity to the refinery structured unequal access to environmental safety, health, and ecological resources. These spatial qualities persisted beyond the closure of the refinery, leaving unresolved questions and the need for transitioning towards a sustainable future. Methodologically, the research combines archival analysis, historical cartography, and oral history to reconstruct how company decisions and the refinery activity were embedded in the built environment over time. By situating Aruba’s oil landscapes within debates on environmental justice and post-extractive futures, the presentation highlights how historical extraction shaped and continues to shape Aruba’s built environment. The research is part of the ongoing postdoctoral project “Flaring Oil in Paradise: Colonial Legacies of Company Towns in the Dutch Caribbean” (2025-2027) developed at the Department of Urbanism at TU Delft, and supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.