Study on Neighbourhoods, Attitudes, Perceptions and Preferences (SNAPP)
How do perceptions of the city inform neighbourhood selection and housing search?
Details
- Period: 2023-08-01 – 2027-11-01
- Budget: 6,721,356 SEK
- Funder: Swedish Research Council
- Type of funding: Project funding
Where do we search for housing? What does the search process look like? Which areas do we consider – and which areas are not considered? How are our choices shaped by the knowledge we have about different neighbourhoods and by how we perceive them?
This study focuses on the housing search itself as a key to understanding the underlying reasons for residential segregation. Although research has long shown the persistence of residential segregation in Swedish cities – and despite political efforts to create more socially mixed neighbourhoods – cities remain divided. To find new solutions, we must continue to investigate the underlying causes of segregation.
The project uses register data, surveys, and interviews to explore, from multiple angles, how housing search is connected to people’s knowledge and perceptions of the city – as well as to their broader social networks, including those that extend beyond their immediate neighbourhood. On this page you can learn more about:
- SNAPP-survey 2025
- Interviews with maps
Contact information: snapp@uu.se
Interview with map
Where do you go to pick up groceries? Where is your workplace? Where do your friends and family live? What do you think about Gränby as a place to live? What about Luthagen? Or, Storvreta? What is your ideal area to live? Is there any part of Uppsala where you would never consider searching for housing?
In one-on-one interviews with people aged 20 to 74 living in Uppsala, we roll out a large map of the city on the table and have a conversation about it. We ask questions about how people perceive different neighbourhoods, how they move through the city in their everyday lives, and which places they like or dislike as potential places to live.
Participants mark places they talk about using stickers in different colours.
These interviews provide in-depth knowledge about how people reason when they search for housing — and offer valuable insights into how perceptions of the city shape those decisions.
