National policymaker perspectives on the implementation of biophilic urbanism in Chile: a pairwise comparison ranking perspective
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Date
2025
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Abstract
The biophilic urbanism approach seeks to integrate nature into urban spaces’ planning and design to make cities greener and improve inhabitants’ well-being and health. The approach is pursued through a broad spectrum of more concrete actions named Biophilic Urbanism Initiatives (BUIs). This paper identifies the policymakers linked to the governance for biophilic urbanism in Chile and analyzes their perspectives on the potential implementation of BUIs. Based on their institutional responsibilities, two clusters are identified by means of a national survey: (1) policymakers with an active influence in urban and spatial planning and design and (2) policymakers with an active influence in environmental assessment, health, and education sectors, and active influence in urban planning implementation. Using a pairwise comparison method, we establish a ranking of implementation preferences for three groups of BUIs, and a set of six criteria driving the approach. Overall, both clusters show a preference for the same initiatives in each group: the restoration of natural spaces, the promotion of biophilic activities in schools, and the encouragement of biophilic design in private buildings. The least preferred initiatives were also similar although being of two types: the promotion of green infrastructure in private spaces and greening subsidies. In contrast, the most crucial criterion driving the approach was not entirely similar between both clusters, i.e. administration versus financial resources. Findings regarding the sizable similarity in preferences point to the potential of collaboration between both groups of policymakers, which is indeed required to design policies and implement this approach in Chile. Our results are discussed in the context of the wider literature on biophilic urbanism.
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Keywords
Biophilic urbanismgovernance, Chile, Governmental institutions, Institutional responsibilities’, Biophilic urbanism initiatives(BUIs), Pairwise compariso