From Alby to academia

It’s very fitting that Susanne Urban conducts research on what she does – she is a docent and senior lecturer in sociology at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF) at Uppsala University.

“Maybe my name has something to do with the fact that it ended up being this particular area,” she jokes.

When Susanne Urban was new to the department in the 1990s and was asked to write “something about neighbourhoods”, she wasn't quite sure what it meant but didn’t dare ask or say no, which is how it all started.

“I’m interested in how ideas about ‘how to ensure urban cohesion’ evolve over time and how social and institutional conditions affect individuals,” she explains.

Grew up in “worst neighbourhood”

Urban’s research has mainly focused on housing and school segregation and the labour market and entrepreneurship for people born abroad. In addition to her research, she also has experience growing up in a neighbourhood known as “one of the worst”: Alby in northern Botkyrka, Stockholm.

“My interest probably started right there. I didn’t relate to the way the area was described and did not think it was different from other areas. There were definitely social problems and one guy in the same class as me was stabbed to death. But I never felt unsafe,” Urban notes about her childhood.

“The more you read and understand, the more you realise that resources are unevenly distributed and I would like to be part of changing that,” she continues.

Her journey from a working-class background in Alby to the world of academia at Uppsala University has also been driven by a desire for redress.

“I’ve definitely had the feeling of wanting to show that things are not automatically bad for everyone who grows up there.”

“Get to learn lots of new things”

Urban is currently working on two different research projects simultaneously. One is a book that summarises theories on how society can retain its cohesion and is a continuation of her previous research on how segregation affects people’s working life and educational choices, for example.

The second research project focuses on energy communities. Energy communities involve linking a number of neighbouring buildings into a smaller system where energy can be produced, recycled and shared.

“I was contacted by Klas Palm, the project manager, and thought it sounded like a lot of fun – I’ve never thought about these issues before. Now I get to work with technicians and learn lots of new things,” adds Urban.

A key issue when discussing energy communities, she thinks, is how to make the distribution as fair as possible and how everyone can be involved in a positive way. The project was launched before electricity prices increased and the issue of electricity consumption became relevant.

“It was pure luck, or how can I describe it?” says Urban.

Never worked at a sociological department

Since 2014, Urban has been working at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF). The IBF is a multidisciplinary institute, so it houses researchers in human geography, economics, political science, sociology, economic history, architecture and environmental psychology.

The IBF was established in 1994 by government decision. Urban describes the environment as very rewarding, but then she is used to working in an interdisciplinary manner.

“I have not worked in a sociology department since taking my doctorate in 2005, but have always worked in an interdisciplinary way. Before I was at IBF, I worked at REMESO at Linköping University. I think working in this manner ensures you learn more and gain a broader perspective,” she notes.

Today, Urban has the advantage of having a great opportunity to do research as part of her role, something she says feels very “luxurious”.

“It feels very secure and positive to be able to work with longer time horizons and bring things to fruition.”

As of January 2024, she will also serve as Deputy Head of Department at the Institute.

Desire to convey hope

The next milestone in Urban’s research, and her main goal for the coming year, is to finalise her book, which is due in January 2025.

“It feels like there’s a long time to go, but it will go fast. We hope it will be an international bestseller,” she says.

The energy community project is also continuing, and they are currently conducting a literature review for it. She does not know what will happen next, but she has a dream and a desire to write a book about hope.

“It can sometimes feel like things are pretty hopeless right now in society, you can hear the negative drumbeat. I would like to conduct research on how we can create hope and what secular hope means for people,” she says.

Urban believes that conveying the presence of hope can be an important task – showing that we have not been completely torn apart but there are also forces holding society together.

“I don’t want to be the kind of person who only writes about misery, but rather the positive.”

Agnes Loman