Papers by Mervi J Hiltunen
Reports of the Finnish Environment Institute 22en/2015 3 Preface Finland has often been considere... more Reports of the Finnish Environment Institute 22en/2015 3 Preface Finland has often been considered as the promised land of second homes and it continues to be so. Over time, second homes have not only increased in quantity, but also changed in terms of quality and the composition of their owners. Today, there are nearly half a million second homes that are ever more often equipped with modern conveniences. Second homes, however, are no longer the sole destinations for leisure consumption outside of one's permanent home. Instead, the concept of multiple dwelling better describes the reality of Finnish leisure and second home tourism.
Åkerlund, U., Pitkänen, K., Hiltunen, M.J., Overvåg, K., Müller, D.K. & Kahila, P. (2015) Matkailututkimus/Finnish Journal of Tourism Research 11(1):43-54
Healthy living environments and housing conditions are important foci of Nordic health and welfar... more Healthy living environments and housing conditions are important foci of Nordic health and welfare policies. However, policies and research on living conditions have mostly explored people’s permanent living environments, adhering to thinking about health in terms of fixity in place. What has not been acknowledged is that a considerable amount of Nordic people live in a continuous interaction of more than one place of dwelling. An illustrative example of the significance of mobile lifestyles is the use of second homes. Second home tourism is usually assumed to increase health and well-being. However, research on well-being and the health effects of second home tourism has been limited. In this paper we propose a research framework to approach second homes and well-being by identifying place and mobility as the key aspects in comprehending the relationship between health, wellbeing and second homes. Furthermore, we argue that the mobile lifestyles considerably challenge existing regulatory frameworks and provision of services as multi-local living is not systematically accounted for. Failing to acknowledge mobile lifestyles and multiple dwelling will degrade possibilities to respond to the current and long-term challenges of the distribution of health and welfare.
Uploads
Papers by Mervi J Hiltunen