Susanne Urban

Docent and senior lecturer/associate professor in sociology, housing and urban research. I am interested in how ideas on social and physical cohesion develop over time and how social and institutional relationships impact the results for individuals. My research is primarily focused on housing and school segregation, the labour market and foreign-born business owners.

I am associate editor for the journal Housing, Theory and Society.

My research can be described with the following four themes:

• Urban development and neighbourhood ideals. On how urban planning, anti-segregation policies and urban ideals have been formulated over time and how these influence segregation in cities.
• Neighbourhood effects. How housing areas influence the individuals that live there. I have studied the long-term effects on income and education and the importance of local social networks for native-born and foreign-born residents.
• Work and business ownership among foreign-born residents. The role of social networks for business owners and the importance of political reforms and privatisation within health care and labour force migration reform.
• Education and school segregation. The consequences of school choice reforms in the form of travel times and long-term consequences for education and income.

Research has been financed in part by the following external projects:

Sustainable or segregated? Energy communities for a broad sustainable energy transition. Formas, projektledare Klas Palm 2021-2024.

The market for upper-secondary education in areas with few Swedes. The choice of upper-secondary programmes among families and students from immigrant backgrounds in ethnically heterogeneous and socio-economically disadvantaged housing areas. Swedish Research Council, project manager Håkan Forsberg 2017–2020.

School choice reforms implementation and long-term consequences for individuals’ social mobility. Swedish Research Council, project manager Susanne Urban 2014–2017. SEK 6.375 million.

Strategies and Structures. A multi-disciplinary study of the preconditions for entrepreneurship among immigrants in Sweden. Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, project manager Martin Klinthäll. 2014–2017.