Sustainability Assessment in Development Planning in Sub-National Territories: Regional Development Strategies in Chile

Social influence, performance expectancy, and price value as determinants of telemedicine services acceptance in Chile

Medicine is a discipline based on and nurtured by scientific research and technological development. The use of health services supported by information technology is increasing worldwide, and Latin America is no exception. Factors such as needing more specialists in peripheral cities, large geographic areas, and socio-cultural aspects limit the possibility of receiving timely and quality medical care services. Information Technology (IT) for health purposes, such as e-health, is a cost-effective solution for equitable access to quality healthcare services and optimization of the rising associated costs. As an e-health service, telemedicine facilitates and mediates distance communication between the patient and medical staff. Even though Latin America is at the beginning of the development of telemedicine, it would have a relevant impact, given the geographic and socioeconomic conditions of the population in this part of the world. Drawing on the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) theory, we developed a theoretical model to identify the latent factors influencing the public acceptance of telemedicine and examined their interrelationships. A survey questionnaire was designed and administered to 391 residents in Antofagasta, a mine region of Chile. After that, structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the survey data. The results reveal that the UTAUT2 factors' performance expectancy, social influence, and price value significantly impact the intention to use (R 2 = 0.693). Additionally, the model presented a good fit. This study enriches the existing theoretical research on the acceptance of telemedicine services and offers insights into understanding and managing technology in the Chilean health sector.

Country-Specific Participation Patterns in Transnational Governance Initiatives on Sustainability: Preliminary Insights and Research Agenda

Transnational public-private governance initiatives (TGIs) have become key elements in global governance, especially in the governance of sustainability. Pertinent research has concentrated on why TGIs have emerged as well as on their impacts on political outcomes and questions related to their legitimacy. This instructive literature has predominantly focused on TGIs as entities in their own right. This explorative study contributes to the literature by advocating a complementary analytical perspective that pays attention to domestic-level patterns of participation in TGIs and national factors that determine which types of organizations (public, business, or civil society) participate in TGIs. It is shown for six Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) that there exists cross-country variation in the composition patterns in 29 TGIs on sustainability, suggesting that national conditions matter for how organizations participate in them. By improving the knowledge of the national conditions, a more complete analysis of participation and the effectiveness of TGIs can be provided in global sustainability governance. In this spirit, in a last step, an agenda is developed for guiding future research on this topic.

Toward sustainability and resilience in Chilean cities: Lessons and recommendations for air, water, and soil issues

Achieving sustainability and resilience depends on the conciliation of environmental, social, and economic issues integrated into a long-term perspective to ensure communities flourish. Many nations are transitioning toward both objectives, while at the same time addressing structural concerns that have not allowed them to look after the environment in the past. Chile is one of these nations dealing with such challenges within a particular administrative context, an increasing environmental awareness, and a set of unique and complex geophysical boundaries that impose a plethora of hazards for cities, ecosystems, and human health. This paper presents recent accomplishments and gaps, mostly from an environmental perspective, on issues related to air pollution, the urban water cycle, and soil contamination, in the path being followed by Chile toward urban sustainability and resilience. The focus is on the bonds between cities and their geophysical context, as well as the relationships between environmental issues, the built environment, and public health. The description and diagnosis are illustrated using two cities as case studies, Temuco and Copiapó, whose socioeconomic, geographical, and environmental attributes differ considerably. Particulate matter pollution produced by the residential sector, drinking water availability, wastewater treatment, stormwater management, and soil contamination from the mining industry are discussed for these cities. Overall, the case studies highlight how tackling these issues requires coordinated actions in multiple areas, including regulatory, information, and financial incentive measures. Finally, the policy analysis discusses frameworks and opportunities for Chilean cities, which may be of interest when conceiving transitional paths toward sustainability and resilience for other cities elsewhere.

Experiencing Public Spaces in Southern Chile: Analysing the Effects of the Built Environment on Walking Perceptions

In Latin American cities, the built environment is facing crucial challenges in the 21st century, not only in terms of the redesign of the physical environment, but also how to remodel public spaces as healthier places for walking and social interaction. The objective of this article is to evaluate the effects of the built environment on walking perceptions in a central neighbourhood in the intermediate city of Valdivia, Chile. The methodology integrates quantitative and qualitative methods to explore which elements of the physical built environment ease and hinder walkability. Depthmap software and Simpson's Diversity Index are used to evaluate connectivity and diversity of land uses at street level. Additionally, the People Following method and 26 walking interviews are conducted using the Natural Go-Along technique to analyse pedestrians' perceptions about their mobility environment. The results show that the factors that promote walkability mainly include streets with high connectivity values, wide pavements, diversity of greening, and facade characteristics of buildings with architectural heritage causing tranquillity, longing, and happiness. On the contrary, factors that inhibit walkability are related to poor-quality and narrow sidewalks, cars parked on sidewalks, dirty streets, and motorized traffic and vehicular noise causing negative emotions in walking perceptions such as tiredness, anger, disgust, discomfort, and insecurity, with negative effects on the well-being of residents that vary according to age and gender. Finally, recommendations are oriented to improve public spaces in central areas in southern Chile, to address moving towards more liveable and inclusive environments and support well-being through urban design in these types of context.

Mental Well-Being and the Influence of Place: Conceptual Approaches for the Built Environment for Planning Healthy and Walkable Cities

Promotion of healthy cities has prompted urban planners and designers to build new conceptual frameworks to improve the design of public spaces, in which mental well-being emerges as a fundamental concept. Mental well-being is related to spatial design, with increasing attention being paid to the built environment as an important predictor of mental well-being. The objective of this article is to advance and contribute new knowledge about the characteristics of the built environment and its potential benefits for mental well-being. A meta-analysis is carried out on various empirical and theoretical approaches from the literature. Using a WOS database as a case study, a methodology based on a bibliometric analysis is proposed to examine which elements of the built environment impact mental well-being in research between 1975 and 2020, using the HistCites and VOSviewer tools. The results show that there are six thematic axes related to the built environment that would favor greater mental well-being in public spaces: walkability, density, spatial design, environmental noise, green areas and social interaction. The six thematic axes are critically analyzed and integrated into a conceptual framework to address the impacts of the built environment on mental well-being in the planning of cities. It concludes with a discussion on the implications of these concepts for urban public policy and the promotion of healthier and more sustainable and walkable environments in Latin American cities.