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I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and a faculty in the Public Policy Ph.D. program at UNC Charlotte. My research interests are focused on housing and transportation. In particular I am interested in the effects of public and private investments on household location behavior and how these micro-level behaviors shape intra-urban sorting patterns.

Some of my recent research projects include explorations into the interconnected role that neighborhood amenities, residential preferences, mortgage lending practices, and real estate advertisements play in neighborhood change processes over the past couple of decades. Past projects include an investigation into the effects of rail transit investments on residential mobility and neighborhood change. Results from this multi-year study can be found on the project website.

Click here for CV.

Education

Ph.D. (2015) Spatially Integrated Social Science (Geography/Economics), University of Toledo
M.A. (2011) Economics, University of Toledo
M.Sc. (2009) Economics, Luleå University of Technology (Sweden)

 

Teaching

Regional Economic Development
Applied Regional Analysis
Retail Location
Transportation Analysis Methods
Applied Research in Geography
Spatial Statistics
Environmental Policy Analysis
Spatial Modeling for Social and Economic Applications
Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
PhD Professional Development Seminar in Geography

Publications

(* indicates student co-author)

Delmelle, E. C., I. Nilsson, and N. Duma*, 2025. Time Series Clustering for Exploring Neighborhood Dynamics: The Case of U.S. Neighborhood Racial and Ethnic Trends, 1990–2020. Geographical Analysis, forthcoming.

Nilsson, I., E. C. Delmelle, and M.-P. James*, 2025. When the Train Never Comes: Property Value Impacts from the Announcement and Cancellation of a Light Rail Project. The Professional Geographer, forthcoming.

Nilsson, I. and E. C. Delmelle, 2025. How the Marketing of Properties Explains Mortgage Applicants by Race and Income. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, forthcoming.

Hammelman, C., N. Anderson, M. L. Carr, T. Farrow, C. Cox, R. Hall, C. Joy, R. Kilmer, I. Nilsson, E. Racine, D. Terrell, and B. White, 2025. Building Impactful Community-University Partnerships through a Shared Power Approach. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, forthcoming.

Nilsson, I. and N. Reid, 2025. Craft Breweries as a Neighborhood Amenity: Evidence from Residential Real Estate Listings. Urban Geography, 46:64-86.

Duma, N.* and I. Nilsson, 2024. Local Factors Driving the Adoption of Municipal Voluntary Environmental Programs: The Case of Sweden’s Eco-municipalities. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 67:1678-1701.

Delmelle, E. C., I. Nilsson, and P. Adu*, 2023. Neighborhood and Housing Choices of Out-of-Town versus Local Movers: The Case of Charlotte, NC. Journal of Urban Affairs, forthcoming.

Nilsson, I. and E. C. Delmelle, 2023. An Embedding-Based Text Classification Approach for Understanding Micro-Geographic Housing Dynamics. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 37:2487-2513.

Nilsson, I. and E. C. Delmelle, 2023. Smart Growth as a Luxury Amenity? Exploring the Relationship between the Marketing of Smart Growth Characteristics and Neighborhood Racial and Income Change. Journal of Transport Geography, 106:103522.

Apardian, R. E.*, I. Nilsson, N. Reid, and J. Wartell, 2022. The role of neighborhood characteristics for firm performance in the experience economy: A case study of production volumes in California’s brewpub industry. Journal of Urban Management, 11:214-225.

Nilsson, I. and E. C. Delmelle, 2022. Understanding Residential Sorting through Property Listings: A Case Study of Neighborhood Change in Charlotte, NC 1993-2018. In Storti, L., G. Urso, and N. Reid (eds.) Economies, Institutions, and Territories: Dissecting Nexuses in a Changing World, Routledge.

Schuch, J. C. and I. Nilsson, 2022. Rail transit, for who? Perceptions and factors influencing light rail ridership in Charlotte, NC. Travel Behaviour and Society, 27:38-46.

Reid, N. and I. Nilsson, 2022. From Mill District to Brewery District: Craft Beer and the Revitalization of Charlotte’s NoDa Neighborhood. In Harvey, D.C., E. Jones, and N. Chapman (eds.) Beer Places: The Micro-Geographies of Craft Beer, University of Arkansas Press.

Delmelle, E. C. and I. Nilsson, 2021. The Language of Neighborhoods: A Predictive-Analytical Framework Based on Property Advertisement Text and Mortgage Lending Data. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 88:101658.

Tornabene, S.* and I. Nilsson, 2021. Rail Transit Investments and Economic Development: Challenges for Small Businesses in Charlotte (NC). Journal of Transport Geography, 94:103087.

Khabazi, M.* and I. Nilsson, 2021. Connecting People with Jobs: Light Rail’s Impact on Commuting Patterns. Travel Behaviour and Society, 24:132-142.

Delmelle, E. C., I. Nilsson, and P. Adu*, 2021. Poverty Suburbanization, Job Accessibility, and Employment Outcomes. Social Inclusion, 9(2).

Delmelle, E. C., I. Nilsson, and A. Bryant*, 2021. Investigating Transit Induced Displacement Using Eviction Data. Housing Policy Debate, 31:326-341.

Delmelle, E. C., I. Nilsson, and J. C. Schuch, 2021. Who’s Moving In? A Longitudinal Analysis of Home Purchase Loan Borrowers in New Transit Neighborhoods. Geographical Analysis, 53:237-258.

Nilsson, I. and E. C. Delmelle, 2020. On the Link between Rail Transit and Spatial Income Segregation. Applied Geography, 125:102364.

Nilsson, I., J. C. Schuch, E. C. Delmelle, and K. L. Canales*, 2020. Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Survey Analysis of Neighborhood Change and Residential Mobility Concerns around New Light Rail Stations in Charlotte, NC. Journal of Transport Geography, 86:102790.

Nilsson, I. and E. C. Delmelle, 2020. Impact of New Rail Transit Stations on Neighborhood Destination Choices and Income Segregation. Cities, 102:102737.

Nilsson, I., J. Wartell, and N. Reid, 2020. Craft Breweries and Neighborhood Crime: Are They Related? Papers in Applied Geography, 6:256-271.

Delmelle, E. C. and I. Nilsson, 2020. New Rail Transit Stations and the Out-Migration of Low-Income Residents. Urban Studies, 57:134-151.

Nilsson, I., N. Reid, and H. Campbell, 2020. The Changing Industrial Organization of American Megaregions. In Glaeser, E., K. Kourtit, and P. Nijkamp (eds.) Urban Empires: Cities as Global Rulers in the New Urban World, Routledge.

Lehnert, M.*, I. Nilsson, and N. Reid, 2020. Navigating the Regulatory Environment in American Urban Areas: The Case of American Craft Breweries. In Strojer Madsen, E., J. Gammelgaard, and B. Hobdari (eds.) New Developments in the Brewing Industry: The Role of Institutions and Ownership, Oxford University Press.

Nilsson, I. and N. Reid, 2019. The Value of a Craft Brewery: On the Relationship between Craft Breweries and Property Values. Growth and Change, 50:689-704.

Nilsson, I., O. Smirnov, N. Reid, and M. Lehnert*, 2019. To Cluster or Not to Cluster? Spatial Determinants of Closures in the American Craft Brewing Industry. Papers in Regional Science, 98:1759-1778.

Canales, K. L.*, I. Nilsson, and E. C. Delmelle, 2019. Do Light Rail Transit Investments Increase Employment Opportunities? The Case of Charlotte, North Carolina. Regional Science Policy & Practice, 11:189-202.

Hammel, D. and I. Nilsson, 2019. Mortgage Foreclosures, Race and Post-Recession Lending. The Professional Geographer, 71:536-550.

Miner, A.*, E. C. Delmelle, and I. Nilsson, 2019. Neighborhood Change around Subway Lines in US Cities. In Knowles, R., and F. Ferbrache (eds.) Transit Oriented Development and Sustainable Cities: Economics, Community and Methods, Edward Elgar Publishing.

Nilsson, I. and O. Smirnov, 2018. Limited Location Options: Measuring Spatial Interactions among Retailers under Zoning Restrictions. Geographical Analysis, 50:358-377.

Nilsson, I. and E. C. Delmelle, 2018. Transit Investments and Neighborhood Change: On the Likelihood of Change. Journal of Transport Geography, 66:167-179.

Nilsson, I., N. Reid, and M. Lehnert*, 2018. Geographic Patterns of Craft Breweries at the Intraurban Scale. The Professional Geographer, 70:114-125.

Nilsson, I. and O. Smirnov, 2017. Clustering vs. Relative Location: Measuring Spatial Interactions between Retail Outlets. Papers in Regional Science, 96:721-741.

Haggquist, E. and I. Nilsson, 2017. Factors Influencing the Adoption of Geological Information in Swedish Municipalities. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 60:1112-1126.

Schafer, S. and I. Nilsson, 2016. The Effects of Public and Private Investments in ITS on Freight Transportation Outcomes. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2548:90-96.

Nilsson, I. and O. Smirnov, 2016. Measuring the Effect of Transportation Infrastructure on Retail Firm Co-Location Patterns. Journal of Transport Geography, 51:110-118.