Department of Economics and Business (DISEA), University of Sassari

The demographic phenomena are conditioned not only by the social and biological characteristics of the populations, but also by the environmental and ecological factors. From this point of view, the spatial distribution of demographic phenomena has grown in importance with the increasing availability of geographic information associated with demographic data. The studies have focused on three aspects in particular: 1) the analysis of environmental data within health and mortality studies; 2) the marriage-related movements; and 3) migrations and mobility. Large numbers of contemporary studies deal with these aspects using longitudinal data; however, only a limited number of studies have taken a historical longitudinal perspective. These few studies, despite not covering a long period, have led to results of some importance.

The purpose of this research project is to collect high-quality geographical data to be used in conjunction with GIS to map all the attributes directly or indirectly associated with individuals cited in demographic databases, such as name, surname, age and occupation. The starting point is a rich longitudinal database covering specific communities throughout the Italian territory: Treppo Carnico and Resia in Friuli, Casalguidi in Tuscany and Alghero in Sardinia. They already form part of or will be included in the Italian Historical Population Database, and they have been created from an ongoing cooperation with various historical Archives, led by the Udine State Archive (http://www.friulinprin.beniculturali.it/inglese/index.html).

The project will develop a set of concepts and techniques for managing longitudinal population data, and then perform longitudinal analysis in a long-term perspective. The project intends to analyze, for example, the spread of diseases or infant and child mortality rates in single communities, taking into account the distance between the houses or the kinship relationships and population closeness. The project intends to identify possible similarities or differences between different communities by studying the distribution of mortality in relation to both environmental and socioeconomic factors, like the availability of water sources and their distance from the house. The second aspect concerns the analysis of marriages. The goal is to spatially evaluate propensity for marriage between people from different backgrounds in terms of their demographic (age, marital status), social and economic characteristics. The third aspect concerns the study of migration. This is the most complex aspect to be studied. Many studies shed light on the relationship between migratory distance and intensity of migratory flows. Reflecting on the fact that migration also means creating distance between the migrant and his/her original family and social context, it is possible to assert that new relationships and their dynamics are influenced in varying degrees by the distance involved.

The scientific goal of this project is to increase and substantially improve: a) the ability to set up and use individual data; b) the capacity to analyse demographic behaviours in a relational perspective; c) the historical-demographic knowledge relative to certain typical features of the Italian context.

The applicant is expected to take active part in developing the Project, participate to some empirical research and particularly to deal with the problems related to the influence of environmental and spatial context; to manage geospatial analysis/GIS based statistical techniques applied to socio-demographic phenomena; to produce reports of the Project and contribute to scientific publications in collaboration with the research team.

LONGPOP EXPECTED RESULTS:

5.1. GIS data model with historical environmental, socioeconomic and demographic information.
5.2. GIS layer on Italian mortality estimates.
5.3. GIS layer on Italian marriage patterns.
5.4. GIS layer on Italian migration patterns.

For 5.2 – 5.4, see GIS layers on Italian Demography.