The Fourth International Conference on Population Geographies
The vulnerability ofstudent populations anda new -wave of studentification Darren P. Smith University of Brighton, UK The Fourth International Conference on Population Geographies The Chinese University of Hong Kong 11th July 2007 The first-wave of studentification
Structure The first-wave of studentification The more effective management of student populations (UniversitiesUK Studentification Guide) Stabilising the concentrations of student populations (Anti-Student Housing Restraint Areas - ASHORES) The second-wave of studentification The INTENTIONAL dispersal and regulation of student populations via luxury (and costly) purpose-built student accommodation =Students are becoming a more vulnerable social groups The definition of studentification
Macmillan English Dictionary (2003) [Studentification is] the social and environmental changes caused by very large numbers of students living in particular areas of a town or city. Wikipedia (2005) Studentification is a neologism, coined to describe the effects that a large student population can have on an established population The challenges/opportunities of studentification
Social (e.g. the demographic imbalance & school closures, loss of sense of community, increase of crime, unsustainability, low voting) Cultural (e.g. student-oriented retail, leisure, recreation, sense of place) Environmental (e.g. increased refuse, tipping & rats, noise nuisance, parking, fly posters, to-let signs) Economic (e.g. rising property prices, mono-tenurial profiles, exclusion of families) Leeds - the studentified landscape Glasheen Rd area - Cork, Ireland Kingston (Town and Gown Association of Ontario) Annex district Toronto, Ontario Carlton/Fitzroy Melbourne (Carlton Residents group) Berkeley, San Francisco Improving the management of student pops.
Studentification: A Guide To Opportunities, Challenges & Practice Commissioned / published by: UniversitiesUK/SCOP Funded by: Department for Education and Skills, Office of Deputy Prime Minister & Local Government Association Parliamentary launch - 27th June 2006 Key developments Strategic & local level initiatives (checklist)
Partnership working Interlocking strategies Effective communication channels Respect, transparency, and trust Sensitive to the local context Studentification unfolds in different ways within and between different places No blueprint for mitigating the challenges of studentification Sharing of experience and practice between organisations and stakeholders Key Developments since UUK Guide
Student Accommodation Strategy (HEIs/LAs) Student Strategy Managers (Nottingham) Community Liaison Officers (Loughborough) Community Wardens Neighbourhood Helplines (Leeds) Complaint response strategies (Leicester, 101) Accommodation Bureaux (e.g. Unipol in Nottingham) Accreditation Schemes (London-wide) Community Strategy Student Volunteering in the community (CUPP Brighton) Key Developments since UUK Guide
Raising student expectations of quality and management of accommodation Student Housing Handbook Guides and Guidance House-hunting talks, Fresher stalls, Leaflets, Internet, etc Alert students to alternative residential locations & widen knowledge (Area Guides in London) Being a good neighbour & responsibilities as tenants and neighbours Codes of behaviour on/off-campus Information directories contacts and timings Encourage stable student households Key Developments since UUK Guide
Noise awareness campaigns SSHH Campaigns (Silent Students Happy Homes) Traffic and parking initiatives Car parking permit schemes (Bristol) Subsidised public transport (Norwich) Environmental blight campaigns Awareness and recycling campaigns (Brighton) Crime (Birmingham Emma Thompson) and fire prevention (Bath) Studentification events since UUK Guide
All-party parliamentary group (APPG) on balanced and sustainable communities National HMO Lobby continues to expand 35 towns and cities Devolution of decision-making to neighbourhoods (White Paper) National conference for local councillors/local authority officers: - hosted by Nottingham City Council Councillors' Campaign for Balanced Communities Studentification events since UUK Guide
National Union of Students (NUS) think tank held at the DCLG in London - Unipol/Universities Parternships Programme (UPP) NUS publication Students in the Community - 11th June 2007 Championed by the Housing Minister, Baroness Andrews issues around students and communities have become a real challenge for students unions across the country (p.1). Students in the Community: Studentification - Association of Student Residences and Accommodation (ASRA): Annual Conference Swansea (April 2007) Regional meetings: South-east Uni. of Greenwich (June 2007) Local Student Unions more pro-active University of Brighton Student Union survey Universities e.g. University of Bristol, University of Leicester Police Studentification events since UUK Guide
Studentification: The Next Steps - local authority and university officers & representatives from student unions - organised by Norwich City Council and University of East Anglia - 19th June 2007 UniversitiesUK Students andSustainable Communities (October 2007) Unipol training events 6th July (London) The emerging processes of studentification?
The first-wave of studentification (1995>present?) The marked expansion of student populations Influx of students into the private-rented housing sector (HMOs) Perceived as urban decline (Studentification is the modern scourge of British cities) The second-wave of studentification (2005>present?) The stabilisation of the expansion of student populations The proliferation of purpose-built student accommodation by the private sector (Unite, Opal) Marketed as a form of urban regeneration (Studentification in a more positive light) The conditions of the second-wave?
HMO Mandatory (and Selective) Licensing - Housing Act 2005 Accreditation ANUK/UUK Property market saturation (buy-to-let) for the (over-)supply of student accommodation The conditions of the second-wave?
Private sector involvement luxury student accommodation Changing student lifestyles The effects of top-up tuition fees & student bursaries Changing student populations home, EU and international The refurbishment of Halls of Residence (UPP) on university campuses - recruitment and retention The emerging processes of studentification?
Purpose-built developments on brown-field sites The landscapes of the second-wave Purpose-built in Cork, Ireland Do purpose-built effectively deliver:
An opportunity to: regulate anti-social behaviour? enhance quality and management of student accommodation? solve refuse collection issues, etc? control student leisure & recreation spaces (bars) ? reduce use of private vehicles? circulate information leaflets and enhance? communication? Increase electoral voting? Reduce concentrations in studentified areas? (Re)turn studentified areas to family housing? The challenges are displaced? The emerging processes of studentification?
Purpose-built developments in studentified areas Regulating student populations? Purpose-build and the tipping-point Purpose-build and the tipping-point
McGill student ghetto, Montreal, Canada New Residence Hall (NRH) The future of studentified areas?
Gentrification? The retention of graduates and conversion of student accommodation (PRS) for young professionals Students displaced to former social rented estates / declining areas (Brighton, Bristol) Displacement of students from Yorkville: Annex boundary The future of studentified areas?
Destudentification? The abandonment of student areas by students and student landlords (Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, London) We want our students back! Over-supply of bed spaces - the effects of purpose-built student accommodation? Do the families come back? Or A8 migrants? The future of studentified areas?
Gated-communities? The segregation of students and established communities Students are jettisoned into established communities with no experience of student populations The creation of gated communities and divided societies? Conclusion: the key debate?
Studentification More effective management of student housing and student populations And / or Legislative change (e.g. Use Classes Order) In the context of: a changing private rented sector? the diversification of the student population & student lifestyles/experiences? Codes of Conduct - Kingston
The university is sending letters to the parents of all new and Returning students this summer telling them about the universitys student code of conduct and expectations for behaviour. This is one of several initiatives aimed at fostering an atmosphere of responsibility when the bulk of the student body returns to campus in September, members of the Board of Trustees heard at their May 6 meeting. Student Housing Co-operatives Toronto Responsible landlords/tenants - Toronto McGill Ghetto, Montreal (Milton Parc Residents Syndicate) Active citizens - Toronto
Were promoting the idea of our students as active citizens by sensitizing them to the fact that this is a neighbourhood. The University is concerned with breaking down various misconceptions of students that residents hold (McGill Daily, 22/09/03). Student volunteering - Toronto
With a nudge from the University Relations Office (URO), a group of students attempted to change the communitys feelings by participating in a neighbourhood cleanup. 50 students donned gloves, grabbed garbage bags, and streamed out of the Milton Gates to collect the telling remains of a first week of excessive drinking and discarded apartment furnishings (McGill Daily, 22/09/03). Anti-social behaviour - Toronto
The officers at Station 19 created an action plan to curtail noise and disruption at night.The station came up with the Local Intervention Group, a short-term task force that began patrolling the area between 8 pm and 4 am on August 25. the group has adopted a zero-tolerance policy and has already issued roughly 125 tickets (McGill Daily, 22/09/03). Party Safe Melbourne Donate Your Furniture - San Francisco