Town and Gown Relations: The Opportunities

Dr Darren P. SmithReader in Human Geography

University of Brighton, UK

Built Estates ConferenceLondon

15th May 2008

Structure: setting the contextThe ‘challenges’ of studentification•Dispersal of students away from

existing concentrations•Better management of students

housing and populations (e.g. Unipol, Nottingham)

Realising the opportunities of studentification•An opportunity for Universities’ Built

Estates?

The breakdown of ‘town and gown’relations?

Dramatic rise of student populations (< mid-90s)No urban policy to accommodate rising numbers of students•Students accommodated in unregulated / unplanned ways by private sector (HMO)

Results = Studentification• ‘[Studentification is] the social and environmental

changes caused by very large numbers of students living in particular areas of a town or city’ (Macmillan English Dictionary, 2003).

Acknowledging the issueStudentification: A Guide To Opportunities, Challenges and Practices• Commissioned / published by:

UniversitiesUK/SCOP• Funded by: DfES & ODPM, LGA• Launched: UUK conference January 2006• Parliamentary launch: 27th June 2006

Remit:• To scope and assess the scale and nature of the

challenges associated with large concentrations of student populations

– GEOGRAPHIES OF STUDENTIFICATION• To identify current practice to address these [high

concentrations of students] through consideration of some case studies

– BETTER MANAGEMENT

Remit of project (A missed opportunity?)

What can be done / what is being done in the current legislative context?

Not provide a critique of current legislation

To illuminate non-legislative, non-regulatory solutions to challenges of studentificationTo focus on the negative effects of high concentrations of students

The response: addressing the challenges

The dispersal of students away from existing over-concentrations (studentified areas)Halting the intensity of concentrations of students •The proliferation of purpose-built

student accommodation by the private sector (Unite, Opal)

•The refurbishment / upgrade of university-maintained / -managed student accommodation

The ‘second-wave’

of studentification?

Purpose-built student accommodation

The solution to:• enhance the quality and management of student

accommodation• regulate the behaviour of some (anti-social)

students• solve refuse collection issues, etc• (re)turn student areas to family housing• control student leisure & recreation spaces (i.e.

bars)• reduce use of private vehicles and on-street

parking• circulate information leaflets and enhance

communication with students about behaviour, etc• Increase electoral voting, etc...

A changing context of opportunities

A changing private rented / HMO market•Housing Act (licensing)•Use Classes Order•Areas of Housing Mix (AoHm)•Student accommodation included in Local Housing Strategies/LDF

•Changing preferences of students

A changing context of opportunities

What are the key themes / trends?•Studentification continues to unfold

•Destudentification (which social groups replace the students)

•Gentrification of student areas

The first-wave persists and is unfolding

An international phenomena

Town and Gown Association of Ontario (TGAO)Carlton Residents Group, Melbourne

DestudentificationDefinition (?) – ‘the decline of a student area due to the out-migration of student landlords and students’

- ‘We want the student’s back!’(e.g. Coventry, Birmingham, Brighton)

- ‘We don’t want the asylum seekers or the migrant workers’

Recognising the opportunities

Engagement with the politics of studentification•APPG for Balanced and Sustainable Communities

•Councillors Campaign for Balanced Communites

•NUS•National HMO Lobby

What is the role of university accommodation?

Thinking ‘outside the box’?‘Accommodation package’ is included in the tuition fee (The ‘student experience’)?Student rents a bed-space for the full-term of their ‘student experience’•Reduce transience?•Increase attachment to local

neighbourhood?•Increase the sense of belonging to

broader community?•Less ‘moving-’ & ‘searching for

accommodation-related’ stress for students

What is the role of university accommodation?

More effectively ‘protect’ and ‘nurture’ balanced communities = student populationsThe mission for providers of student accommodation:

Woven into economic regeneration schemesMatches the preferences of studentsProvides affordable rents and high-quality student accommodationIntegrated into established communities in sensitive waysDoes not ‘ghettoise’ students in gated-communitiesManaged in effective ways (refuse, car parking, noise nuisance, volunteering, active citizens, green transport)

Is this happening?

Student accommodation to address deeper challenges?

Childless cities and towns (Peter Hall, 2007)Lack of family or affordable housing (housing crisis)Increasing segregation of societyProliferation of gated communities‘Ghettoisation’ of social groupsBreakdown of community cohesionDecreasing levels of social capitalDeterioration of urban environmentHomogenisation of built environment with ‘private sector footprint’