AdamAbdulrahman

Mr.Mewborne
APHumanGeography
8September2013
TorstenHagerstrand
Humangeographyisasubjectthatstudieshowindividualsaffecttheirenvironments,andhow
theirenvironmentsaffectthem.Therearemanyaspectswithingeography,butonethatstandsoutis
wherewego.Movementandlocationofindividualstakealargeroleingeography.Wehavechoicesin
wherewewent,andtheschedulingofourlives.Theplaceswegoeachday,andthespreadingofideas
alltakecertainpaths.Yetevenintothelate1960s,thespatialandtemporalrestraintswefacewere
overlookedinthemodelsandtheoriesofdiffusion(Corbett).TorstenHagerstrand,onethemost
influentialSwedishgeographerofalltime,lookeddeeper.Throughouthiswork,heintroducedmany
modelsandkeypointstotheideasofdiffusion.Hagerstrandtookhumangeographytoanewlevelthat
shapedhowweviewdiffusionofideas,andhowpeoplesdailylivesinfluencesuchideas.
TorstenHagerstrandwasborninMoheda,Swedenin1916(TorstenHagerstrand).Hefather
wasateacher,andspentalotofhischildhoodtheschoolwherehisfathertaught.Hagerstrandthen
wentontostudyatLundUniversityfrom1947to1953.HealsoreceivedhisdoctorateinGeography
in1953atLund,aswellashonorarydoctoratesfromBristol,Glasgow,andEdinburghuniversities.
Followinginthefootstepsofhisfather,Hagerstrandbecameateacher,teachingatLundUniversityfrom
1971to1982astheProfessorofGeography.Heusedinfluencesfromhisearlyeducationinhis
teaching.Asheeducatedhisstudents,hesignifiedspacialboundaries,andhowtheyinfluenced
individualmovement.Hagerstrandsfoundationaroundeducationinhisearlylifewassignificantbecause
itallowedhimtoobservethedetailsingeography,andtheprocessestakingplacewithintheexisting
theoriesandmodels.Itwaseducationingeographythatallowedhimtonoticeandestablishinnovation.
Ideascanbespreadphysically,byapersonmovingfromoneplacetoanother.Thisisknown
asrelocationdiffusion(Rubenstein37).TorstenHagerstrandapproachedthisaspectbycreatingthe
SpatialInnovationDiffusionmodel(Bergin).Thismodelshowshowindividualmovementandmigration
causingdiffusionofanideacouldcreateapattern.Thismodelattemptedtomimicthespreadof
adoptedgovernmentalsubsidiesbySwedishfarmers.Hecreatedtwopartstothemodels.Onewas
basedonalimitedscale,inordertoshowhowuniformrelocationdiffusionwouldoccur.Theotheris
uneven,withdifferentunitsatdifferentareasofthemodel.Thismodelcanbeappliedtomorecomplex,
anisotropicsituations.Thesemodelsareimportantbecausetheyallowapplicationtomostsituationsin
whichdiffusiontakesplace,inbothsmallandlargescales.Hagerstranddevelopedthisdesigninhis
earlieryearsofstudy,in1965.AsheprogressedtobecometheProfessorofGeographyatLund
University,hecreatedmoreadvancedmodels,andworkedhiswaytobecomethenotablegeographer
knowntoday.
AthistimeteachingatLund,TorstenHagerstrandbegandevelopingmorecomplexmodelsand
theoriespertainingtotimegeography.In1970,Hagerstrandcreatedastructurethatwouldlinkhuman
activitiesandconstraintsinacontextofspacetime(Yu3).Hedidthisbyaddinglimitstoeach
individual,bothspatialandtemporalboundaries.Thismeansanindividualcanonlytravelsofarfroma
startingpoint,dependingontheirlimitations,suchastransportationandtimedeadlines.Hagerstrand
realizedthatthisfactorofaperson'sspecificactionsandpotentialinmigrationwouldbeimportant
withinhumaninteraction,andthereforethediffusionofideas.Themodelproducedaspacetimepathto
illustratehowanindividualtravelsthroughaspacetimeenvironment.Thephysicalareaaroundthe
individualisa2dimensionalplane,wherethetemporalaspectcreatesthethirddimension.Hagerstrand
specifiedthattherearethreetypesofconstraintsthatcontrolwhereandindividualcouldtravel.These
threetypesofconstraintsarecapability,coupling,andauthority.Capabilityconstraintsarephysical
limitationsonhumanmovement,couplingconstraintsreferstothecommitmentofhavingtobe
somewhereforacertainamountoftime,andanauthorityconstraintiswhereanareaisofflimitsfora
persontotravel.Thiscreatesaspacetimeprism,whichincludesapotentialpatharea.Thisisasetofall
spacetimepathsthatanindividualcantake.Thesimplicityofthisconceptiswhatmakesitso
significant,asitcanbeappliedtomanyaspects.Ithasleadtorevolutionarydesignsintransportation,
andhelpednavigationtechnologiesgreatly.
TorstenHagerstrandcontinuedtowriteaboutthemigrationandhumaninteractionwith
spacetimethroughouthiscareer.SomeoftheseworksincludeOntheDefinitionofMigrationThe
ImpactofTransportationonthequalityoflifeTheDomainofHumanGeographyandSpace,
Time,andHumanConditions.InthewritingsHagerstranddiscussestheapplicationsofhismodels,
andhowhumansinteractwithnavigationandspaceastimeprogresses.ThisisthelegacyHagerstrand
hasleftbehind.Hismodels,observations,andtheorieshaveproventobesuccessful,becausethey
modelhumangeographyatitscore:howhumansinteractwiththeirenvironments,andhowtheir
environmentsinturnaffectthem.Hagerstrandsmodelsliveonevenafterhisdeath,becausetheyhave
createdanimportantpieceinthefoundationofhumangeographythatwestudytoday.

WorksCitedPage

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Rubenstein,JamesM.TheCulturalLandscape:AnIntroductiontoHumanGeography.
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