Research Interests and Current Research themes:
I defended my thesis "Der neue Nationalismus in der Publizistik Ernst Jüngers und des Kreises um ihn 1920-1933" at the University of Helsinki in 1975. Since then I have published a number of books and articles on Urban History, Diffusion of Innovations, History of Ideas, Methodology, Social History and History on Science.
My ongoing research project financed by the Academy of Finland is Scholars, science, universities and networks as factors making cities attractive. A long-term analysis in an international context (with one academy research fellow, one post doc researcher, four Ph.D. candidates).
During the past 20 years I have done comparative long-term urban historical research from various perspectives, on Nordic and international levels. I have analyzed the building of the infrastructure in German and English towns, explored the municipal decision-making processes, good administrative practices, and looked into the discussions about the public and private providers of services. In my latest research furthermore I have emphasized the importance of diffusion of and accumulation of know-how in the development of Nordic cities in which process the networking of decision-makers was especially significant. In addition, in the Academy of Finland project I have tracked the networking of scholars and scientists during the past hundred years.
International and Finnish Affiliations
On an international level, since 1983 I have been a member of the Commission internationale pour l´histoire des villes, and in 1992 I was elected as a member of the board of the commission. I have participated in the comparative urban research projects conducted by the Commission: Interaction between the Countryside and Towns, Foundation of Towns, The Significance of Fairs and Exhibitions for the Development of Towns, and Destruction and Reconstruction of Towns. One of the cornerstones in the commission activities is the preparation of historical maps (Historical Atlases). Currently I participate in a research group that is drafting an Historical Atlas of Helsinki. My other important international association is the European Association of Urban Historians in which I have participated by presenting papers and conducting sections in the biannual conferences organized by the association. Moreover, I am a permanent correspondent of the International Commission for the History into European Food History, and have been the president of the Comité International des Sciences Historiques, Comité des Historiens Finlandais since 2000.
On the national level, much of my activities have been conducted through the Finnish Historical Society and the Finnish Society for Urban Studies, the founding members of which I belong. As a member of the Academy of Finland Research Council for Culture and Society (1995-2000) I was planning research programmes on urban research, on science studies, research programmes on economical crises and "On Both Shores of the Gulf of Bothnia" programme. In 1995-1999 I was the Finnish member in the Research of the Developing Countries Division.
Other International and Finnish Activities:
I have taught in several Finnish universities and taught and done research in several international research institutes and universities (Freie Universität Berlin. University of Minnesota, New York City University, Charles University of Prague), Moreover, I was the Finnish partner in the European Union Distance Learning Project on the History of the European Urbanization in which seven European universities participated. Furthermore, I have had several research periods in German, American, Swedish and English archives and libraries.
I have also worked as a referee for international foundations and research councils. In addition, I have been an overseas correspondent for the Urban History journal since 1989 and the Finnish editor for the Scandinavian Journal of History in 1982. Furthermore I have been an external reviewer for several professorships in history and urban history as well as in church history, for example in the University of Stockholm, the University of Mitthögskola, Härnösand, and in Finland in the Universities of Joensuu, Jyväskylä and Helsinki.
