Juliana Mansvelt

Juliana Mansvelt is a New Zealand social geographer and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in the geographies of ageing and consumption.

Academic career

After a BA(Hons) in geography at Massey University, Mansvelt completed a PhD titled Leisure Services and Local Economic Development at the University of Sheffield. Mansvelt then moved to Massey University, rising to full professor in 2022. Mansvelt is part of the Health and Ageing Research Team (HART) at Massey University, an interdisciplinary team investigating determinants of health and wellbeing in ageing people. She is also a part of the Centre for Advanced Retail Studies. In 2023 she began a project with Aisling Gallagher on the decisions older people make with regard to housing. The baby boomer generation have high home ownership compared to later generations, but little research had been done about factors influencing their choices as they age. "Our research aims to investigate the political, social and economic landscape in which choices and decisions to divest homes are made, and the choices, decisions and experiences of housing decumulation for people aged 55 and over", Mansvelt said. She is a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and has been awarded three teaching awards.

Selected works