About
Lena Magnusson Turner is a professor in urban and social geography. Her research focuses on residential mobility and life course, segregation and housing choice, geography, social justice, and urban and housing models. She completed her Ph.D. thesis in social and economic geography at Uppsala University, Sweden, about residential vacancy chain. Later she has been involved in research on housing careers and economic progress for immigrants, housing preferences, social inequality and poverty, household mobility on tight housing markets, gentrification and residualisation on the housing market. Lena Magnusson Turner is a member of the ENHR Coordination Committee. Since 2010, she works at NOVA, and Oslo University. At present she leads the research project ”A fair chance? How geography shapes life opportunities” financed by the Research Council of Norway. The opportunity to move up the socioeconomic ladder is a key matter for combating poverty and reducing inequality. This is the premise for the project, to which an increasingly relevant dimension is added, namely: “How does the spatial context in which people live during different stages of their lives shape their life prospects and socioeconomic outcomes?”.
Fields of study
Academic disciplines
Human geography Social sciences Economics
Subject areas
Quanitative research methods Housing market Demography Social inequalities Urban studies Cultural geography Urban governance
Research groups
Research projects
Ongoing research projects
-
A Fair Chance? How Geography Shapes Life Opportunities (FAIR)
The project addresses how the spatial context in which people live during different stages of their lives shape their life prospects and socioeconomic outcomes.
-
HOUSINGWEL – Centre for Housing and Welfare Research
HOUSINGWEL aims to be a hub for research on housing and welfare in Norway.
Completed research projects
-
Possible consequences of moving patterns for people who have been granted a start-up loan in Oslo municipality
The project examines who the initial loan recipients were and are in Oslo, and what the consequences of selective relocation are for districts and sub-districts in Oslo.
-
Social Inequality and Housing over the Life Course: Good Choices or Lucky Outcomes?
The project studies the interplay between housing and other dimensions of social inequality.
-
Under Pressure? Migration and Labor Market Integration in Norway (UPMIN)
The overarching research question in the UPMIN project is: What institutional and contextual factors enhance immigrants’ and refugees’ employment participation?
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Santiago, Anna Maria;
Magnusson Turner, Lena
;
Sandlie, Hans Christian
(2025).
Spatial Opportunity Structures and Final Home Leaving Among Young Adults in Norway.
Population, Space and Place.
Vol. 31.
https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.70018
Magnusson Turner, Lena
; Wessel, Terje
(2024).
The geography of intergenerational mobility in Norway: Labor market diversity, career opportunities, and gender.
17 p.
Journal of Regional Science.
Vol. 65.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12731
Santiago, Anna Maria; Galster, George;
Magnusson Turner, Lena
(2024).
Heterogeneous neighbourhood effects on the educational attainments of native Norwegian and immigrant-descendant female and male young adults.
Urban Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980241232800
Galster, George;
Magnusson Turner, Lena
; Santiago, Anna Maria
(2022).
Decomposing educational disparities between immigrants and natives in Oslo: how gender, parents, and place matter.
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2096578
Sandlie, Hans Christian ; Magnusson Turner, Lena ; Nordvik, Viggo (2022). Boligmarkeder og boligkarrierer. Frønes, Ivar; Kjølsrød, Lise (Ed.). Det norske samfunn - Bind 3. p. 243-268. Gyldendal Akademisk.
Ugreninov, Elisabeth
;
Magnusson Turner, Lena
(2021).
Next to Nothing: The Impact of the Norwegian Introduction Programme on Female Immigrants’ Labour Market Inclusion.
21 p.
Journal of Social Policy.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S004727942100043X
Galster, George;
Magnusson Turner, Lena
; Santiago, Anna Maria
(2021).
Neighbourhood selection by natives and immigrants: Homophily or limited spatial search?.
Housing Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2021.2014415
Wessel, Terje;
Magnusson Turner, Lena
(2020).
The migration pathway to economic mobility: Does gender matter?.
16 p.
Population, Space and Place.
https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2419
Sørvoll, Jardar ; Nordvik, Viggo; Magnusson Turner, Lena (2020). Bostedssegregasjon og politiske strategier. Erfaringer fra Norge og Oslo. Samfundsøkonomen. Vol. 38. https://www.djoef-forlag.dk/openaccess/samf/samfdo
Magnusson Turner, Lena
;
Östh, John
(2020).
Trap or opportunity—What role does geography play in the use
of cash for childcare?.
15 p.
Population, Space and Place.
https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2296
