The vulnerability of student populations and

a new -wave of ‘studentification

Darren P. SmithUniversity of Brighton, UK

The Fourth International Conference on Population Geographies

The Chinese University of Hong Kong11th July 2007

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/SCOPFunded 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 workingInterlocking strategiesEffective communication channelsRespect, transparency, and trustSensitive 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 WardensNeighbourhood Helplines (Leeds)Complaint response strategies (Leicester, 101)Accommodation Bureaux (e.g. Unipol in Nottingham)Accreditation Schemes (London-wide)

Community StrategyStudent 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 GuidanceHouse-hunting talks, Fresher stalls, Leaflets, Internet, etcAlert 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-campusInformation directories – contacts and timings

Encourage ‘stable’ student households

Key Developments since UUK Guide

Noise awareness campaignsSSHH Campaigns (Silent Students Happy Homes)

Traffic and parking initiativesCar parking permit schemes (Bristol)Subsidised public transport (Norwich)

Environmental blight campaignsAwareness 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 and Sustainable 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 populationsInflux 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 populationsThe 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 2005Accreditation – ANUK/UUKProperty 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 lifestylesThe effects of ‘top-up’ tuition fees & student bursariesChanging 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 areasRegulating student populations?

Purpose-build and the ‘tipping-point’

Purpose-build and the ‘tipping-point’

McGill student ghetto, Montreal, CanadaNew 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 communitiesStudents are jettisoned into established communities with no experience of student populations

The creation of ‘gated communities’ and ‘divided societies’?

Conclusion: the key debate?

StudentificationMore 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 university’s 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‘ We’re 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 community’s 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