DR, Research Fellow Tapio Salminen
In the HoPES research unit, I focus on the impact of transport routes, the environment, seasonal variation, infrastructure and communication on the living conditions, settlement and mobility of the population. In traditional local and regional history research, as well as in historical demography, the material and focus of the study is habitually defined from the point of view of administrative areas particular to the study and its purpose. Considering any human interaction in local and transregional contexts, however, the reality was essentially different.
If we want to better understand the whole of demographic phenomena, we need to look more closely at the relationship between the population, settlement and the available traffic and communication technologies, the infrastructure of roads and routes, the natural and cultural environment and the seasonal variation: i.e. the spatial, cyclic and temporal aspects particular to the activity of past societies at a given time and place. In the research unit, my aim is to develop tools for the better understanding of these elements and their impact on different demographic phenomena on the local and transregional level in Finland. I will study both the long term changes in the infrastructure of communication, settlement and mobility from the 1750s to the 20th century, as well as the role of technological and cultural innovations and upheavals in them. What kind of impact did the available traffic, transportation and information technologies have on the adaptation of various units of the local settlement to different places and environments? How did the accessibility of the places vary in different technological, seasonal and cyclical environments in relation to the contemporary needs in mobility, transportation and communication?