Mind maps of residential preferences in Chile

Abstract

In a survey, university students in Santiago, Valparaíso and Valdivia were asked to rank Chile's provinces according to their preference for living in them. Three geographic distributions were identified using the principal component analysis technique. The first distribution was a strong preference for the provinces of Valparaíso, Concepción and Valdivia; the second emphasized the attraction of southern Chile and the third presented high values for the far north and south provinces. It is assumed that residential preferences influence migration and the distribution of economic activities, therefore regional development programs should take them into account.