Désirée Nilsson
Senior lecturer

Presentation

I work as a Senior Lecturer in Economics in the Department of Urban Studies. My research explores the relationships between transport, accessibility and regional development, with a particular focus on public transport. I examine how changes in travel opportunities affect people’s access to employment, housing markets and the functional connections between cities and regions.

A central interest is how transport infrastructure reshapes the geography of labour markets. I study how improved accessibility can influence commuting patterns and connections to different labour markets, including in smaller municipalities located between larger cities. My previous research has also examined the relationship between regional rail services and property prices, and how transport networks enable smaller towns to benefit from the labour markets and other functions of larger cities.

In current work on future fixed links across the Öresund, I collaborate with colleagues to investigate the relationships between transport infrastructure, firm location and cross-border labour market integration. This includes analysing how a potential Öresund metro could change access to employment in Sweden and Denmark, alongside the role of institutional barriers in determining whether improved travel opportunities translate into greater integration.

My research also addresses changes in everyday mobility and the role of public transport in smaller towns and rural areas. I work with various types of data and methods, including administrative register data, spatial analysis and surveys.

I obtained my PhD from Jönköping International Business School, where my dissertation examined international trade, demand structure and income distribution.