The Institute for Urban Research is a university-wide interdisciplinary research centre that brings together all urban research at Malmö University.

We want to be relevant, not only to academia, but to society at large, to meet contemporary challenges of different kinds – spatial, social, economic, environmental and cultural.

Carina Listerborn, Director

Explore our research in more depth

Learn more about the institute and our research. 

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Public transport as a human right

News

Urban justice the focus for new research centre

Open calls: Visiting Scholar and Artist in Residence 2026

Our calls for a Visiting Scholar and Artist in Residence in 2026 are now open

We welcome scholars and artists from around the world through our annual calls for visiting researchers and artists in residence. These one-month stays at Malmö University offer a chance to engage in an interdisciplinary environment, participate in our vibrant academic community, and explore urban issues in creative and critical ways. Whether you’re a postdoctoral urban researcher or a practising artist with a research interest, our programs support collaborative knowledge-making rooted in the urban experience.

We are offering:

  • 1 position for a visiting urban researcher for a one-month stay between 3 February and 7 June 2026, or 25 August – 19 December 2026 at Malmö University. The application deadline is December 15, 2025 (23:59 CET).

    Open Call for Visiting Scholars
  • 1 one-month research-driven art residency between 16 March – 7 June 2026, or 25 August – 19 December 2026 at Malmö University. The application deadline is December 31, 2025 (23:59 CET).

    Open call for Artist in Residence

Picture from the workshop

Our research

IUR brings together knowledge from various disciplines to propose possible solutions to urban societal challenges. IUR engages with citizens, civil society, private actors and public authorities to communicate our research results and find ways to implement solutions.

Four themes

The research at IUR is organised into four themes,

  1. Housing and welfare,
  2. Green and just cities,
  3. Global urbanism and
  4. Urban humanities. We want to contribute to creating a people’s urban studies.

About

The Institute for Urban Research (IUR) aims to be an internationally leading centre for research on urban justice. IUR started as a university-funded research program in 2019 and has received renewed funding from Malmö University in 2025 to prolong its activities. Urban research at Malmö University builds upon of long-term strategic work to establish urban studies as a prominent research field in Sweden, through activities such as establishing the first research education in Urban Studies in Sweden (2012) and through several strong research environments on urban issues.

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Urban Matters

Urban Matters, a popular science journal published by IUR, publishes urban research articles and commentaries on urban events, processes, trends and discussions of urban pasts and futures. It also publishes interviews with urban experts and artists, photo essays and book reviews. The Editorial Board encourages combining academic rigueur with journalistic flair to present quality analyses of urban matters to a broader public that includes communities beyond academia. 

Read more about Urban Matters

Researchers

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Previous issues

2025

Contact

iur@mau.se