哈格斯特朗于1937年进入隆德大学。他在1953年完成的博士论文《作为空间过程的创新扩散》(Innovation Diffusion as a Spatial Process)因在人口发展中创造性地使用蒙特卡罗模拟而闻名。[4]它展示了如何在个体的空间尺度以及大型空间集合体上使用空间过程的动态增量模拟。四十年后,地理学家Andrew Cliff评论了哈格斯特朗方法的远见:“须知本书所依据的大部分研究都可以追溯到几乎没有计算机的时代,更不用说为地理学家所用了,如今重度依赖算力的模拟法在当时就已被想到,实属非凡。”[5]
哈格斯特朗的研究有赖于隆德大学的发展,特别是瑞典第一台计算机之一Siffermaskinen i Lund(SMIL)的建立。[6]哈格斯特朗指出,瑞典计算机科学家Carl-Erik Fröberg是哈格斯特朗的“中学以来的同学”[6],在Fröberg等瑞典青年科学家前往美国的一次旅行之后,他向哈格斯特朗介绍了蒙特卡罗方法,该方法确定了其博士论文的思路。是次旅行是由瑞典政府资助,瑞典希望借此建造自己的计算机的项目。[6]
1969年,在丹麦哥本哈根举行的区域科学协会欧洲大会上,他作了题为《区域科学中的人呢?》(What about People in Regional Science?)的报告。[7]会议报告的论文于1970年正式发表,成为時間地理學的开山之作。论文提出了两个概念:
Hägerstrand, Torsten. The propagation of innovation waves. Lund studies in geography: Series B, Human geography, 4. Lund: Royal University of Lund, Dept. of Geography. 1952. OCLC 254752.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Statistiska primäruppgifter, flygkartering och "data processing"-maskiner: ett kombineringsprojekt. Svensk Geografisk Årsbok. 1955, (31): 233–255 (瑞典语).
Hannerberg, David; Hägerstrand, Torsten (编). Migration in Sweden: a symposium. Lund studies in geography: Series B, Human geography, 13. Lund: CWK Gleerup. 1957. OCLC 170619.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. What about people in regional science?. Papers of the Regional Science Association. 1970, 24 (1): 6–21. S2CID 198174673. doi:10.1007/BF01936872.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. On the definition of migration. Rapporter och notiser, 9. Scandinavian population studies. Lund: Lunds universitets kulturgeografiska institution. 1973. OCLC 185647319.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Ecology under one perspective. Bylund, Erik; Linderholm, Håkan; Rune, Olof (编). Ecological problems of the circumpolar area: papers from the international symposium at Luleå, Sweden, June 28–29, 1971. Luleå: Norrbottens Museum. 1974: 271–276. OCLC 3035384.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. The impact of transport on the quality of life. Rapporter och notiser, 13. Lund: Lunds universitets kulturgeografiska institution. 1974. OCLC 185647393.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Geography and the study of interaction between nature and society. Geoforum. 1976, 7 (5–6): 329–334. doi:10.1016/0016-7185(76)90063-4.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Time geography: focus on the corporeality of man, society and environment. Aida, Shūhei (编). The science and praxis of complexity: contributions to the symposium held at Montpellier, France, 9–11 May, 1984. Tokyo: United Nations University Press. 1985: 193–216. ISBN 9789280805604. OCLC 13025296.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Om tidens vidd och tingens ordning. A selection of Professor Hägerstrand's 300-odd scholarly essays, articles, lectures, and papers, edited by Gösta Carlestam and Barbro Sollbe. Stockholm: Byggforskningsrådet. 1991. ISBN 978-9154053636. OCLC 29548202(瑞典语).
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Action in the physical everyday world. Haggett, Peter; Cliff, Andrew (编). Diffusing geography: essays for Peter Haggett. The Institute of British Geographers special publications series, 31. Oxford; Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. 1995: 35–45. ISBN 978-0631195344. OCLC 30895028.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Tillvaroväven. Edited by Kajsa Ellegård and Uno Svedin, with a bibliography by Bo Lenntorp. Stockholm: Forskningsrådet Formas. 2009. ISBN 978-9154060337. OCLC 456875435(瑞典语).
Brauer, René; Dymitrow, Mirek. Human geography and the hinterland: the case of Torsten Hägerstrand's 'belated' recognition. Moravian Geographical Reports. June 2017, 25 (2): 74–84. doi:10.1515/mgr-2017-0007.
Downs, Joni A; Horner, Mark W; Tucker, Anton D. Time-geographic density estimation for home range analysis. Annals of GIS. September 2011, 17 (3): 163–171. S2CID 7891668. doi:10.1080/19475683.2011.602023.
Latham, Allan. Research, performance, and doing human geography: some reflections on the diary-photograph, diary-interview method. Environment and Planning A. 2003, 35 (11): 1993–2017. S2CID 17764426. doi:10.1068/a3587.
Buttimer, Anne. Torsten Hägerstrand (1916–2004). Withers, Charles W J; Lorimer, Hayden (编). Geographers: biobibliographical studies. Vol. 26. Published on behalf of the Commission on the History of Geographical Thought of the International Geographical Union and the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. London; New York: Continuum. 2007: 119–157. ISBN 978-0826499134. OCLC 141381115.
Flowerdew, Robin. Torsten Hägerstrand. Hubbard, Phil; Kitchin, Rob (编). Key thinkers on space and place 2nd. Los Angeles: Sage. 2011: 199–204 [2004]. ISBN 978-1849201018. OCLC 698373037.
Hägerstrand, Torsten. Virtual traces in space and time. O'Hara, Morgan (编). Morgan O'Hara: live transmissions: attention and drawing as time-based performance 2. Bergamo: Lubrina Editore. 2002 [1995]. ISBN 9788877662538. OCLC 270994775.
Hoppe, Göran; Langton, John. Time-geography and economic development: the changing structure of livelihood positions on arable farms in nineteenth century Sweden. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography. 1986, 68 (2): 115–137. JSTOR 490892. doi:10.2307/490892.
Lenntorp, Bo. Paths in space-time environments: a timegeographic study of movement possibilities of individuals. Lund studies in geography: Series B, Human geography, 44. Lund: Royal University of Lund, Dept. of Geography. 1976. ISBN 978-9140043764. OCLC 3063593.