Spatial development of the post office network in the province of Mikkeli, Finland, 1860-1980

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the spatial development of postal service by means of an examination of the shaping of the network of the post offices in the province of Mikkeli, Finland, in 1860–1980. An attempt is made to determine whether any spatial regularities can be detected in the spread of post offices to the region and subsequent closures which have taken place and to identify the factors which have governed these trends, approaching the problem through the medium of diffusion theory. Reference is also made to earlier work on the abandonment of innovations.

The expansion of the post office network is seen to differ from many other innovations studied in this manner, in that it is dependent on decisions made by a central government agency, whereas most earlier work has focused upon innovations whose diffusion has been based on adoption by individuals. An attempt is made to assess the effects of this administrative aspect by comparing acceptance of the idea of applying for a post office with the diffusion of post offices themselves.

The administrative connection affected the diffusion pattern by deter­mining the grounds on which applications were assessed at each moment in time, causing the network to expand in a manner which deviated from the regular patterns usually observed in diffusion research. A five‑phase model is constructed to represent the history of the post office network in the Mikkeli region from the mid‑19th century up to 1980. Finally an attempt is made to assess the generality of the results by com­paring trends in the number and density of post offices in the region with corresponding figures for the other provinces of Finland and for the country as a whole.