The conference presents the results of a two-year research project on student housing in the context of urban transformations linked to the growing role of universities. The reference framework is the PRIN PNRR 2022 LINUS project – Living the University City: Student Housing as Driver of Changes, coordinated by Loris Servillo (FULL-DIST), which involved research groups in the four university cities of Northern Italy analysed – Bologna, Milan, Padua and Turin – through the Universities of Bologna, Milan-Bicocca, Padua and the Polytechnic University of Turin.
The internationalisation of universities and the increase in the student population have an impact both on urban regeneration processes, through investment and physical transformation, and on the housing market, which is under increasing pressure due to the demand for student accommodation and competition from other forms of residential accommodation. In this context, housing is taken as a key to understanding broader urban dynamics and the conditions of a complex and potentially fragile student population, with repercussions on the right to education.
Interdisciplinary research, spanning urban planning, geography and sociology, analysed urban and university policies, local housing systems and students’ living conditions. This was accompanied by monitoring of medium- to long-term housing trajectories, supported in the case of Turin by the OSA – Osservatorio Student* e Abitare project, coordinated by Marco Santangelo (DIST) and funded by the DIST Department of the Polytechnic University of Turin, with the aim of guiding more inclusive and evidence-based public policies.
The study day is divided into two parts. The morning session (9:00–13:00) involves partner universities and national institutions in a reflection on the tools adopted in third mission and public engagement policies and on the role of universities in urban policies, with particular attention to the theme of housing.
The afternoon session (2:30–5:30 p.m.) will feature a discussion with national and international researchers on four key themes related to the transformations taking place in Italian university cities: the financialisation of student housing, studentification, political narratives of the knowledge economy, and the right to education as a right to the city.
The conference is open to the public. To participate, please fill out the registration form here.
For further information, please write to full@polito.it or erica.mangione@polito.it.
The conference is organised as part of the Project of National Interest (PRIN PNRR 2022) LINUS – Living the University City, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU through the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) with PNRR funds, in collaboration with the departmental project OSA – Student and Housing Observatory / DIST.
