{"id":7257,"date":"2024-10-12T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/full.polito.it\/research\/town-gown-cities-shaped-by-student-populations\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T11:32:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:32:55","slug":"town-gown-cities-shaped-by-student-populations","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/full.polito.it\/en\/research\/town-gown-cities-shaped-by-student-populations\/","title":{"rendered":"TOWN & GOWN: Cities shaped by student populations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The urban areas of Northern Italy have experienced critical transformations in their socio-economic structure in recent decades and have seen universities become key players, acting as magnets for both economic investment and the non-resident students. Cities that are strengthening their role as centres of higher education experience transformation processes that challenge their societies, environments and economies, for which the sustainability of their development and the well-being of their citizens are at stake. In urban studies, some of these changes have been approached through the lens of the relationship between universities and cities<\/strong>\u00a0(the \u2018town & gown\u2019 debate), which has led to a focus on two main areas of enquiry. The first emphasised the importance of\u00a0universities as growth assets<\/strong>\u00a0in the context of the knowledge-based economy, for which student mobility is at the heart of cities\u2019 attraction strategies. The second addressed the\u00a0positive and negative externalities induced by the attraction of a student population<\/strong>. On the one hand, students in cities are agents of socio-economic regeneration and contribute to urban vibrancy. On the other, studies on \u2018studentification\u2019 highlight a specific process of gentrification of neighbourhoods induced by the growing presence of students, in which social cohesion and neighbourhood liveability falter.<\/p>\n\n

Within this framework, the\u00a0student housing<\/strong>\u00a0sector must be highlighted as a crucial aspect, especially for its implications and challenges to social sustainability. Firstly, students\u2019 struggles to access adequate and affordable housing have an impact on students\u2019 living and personal conditions. Secondly, the struggle for housing is mirrored by the conflicts and demands of the most deprived part of the local population, especially in cities and neighbourhoods where there is a shortage of housing supply and an increasing demand for non-permanent uses (e.g. tourism). Third, the combination of real estate and urban dynamics has favoured the transformation of student housing into financial assets.<\/p>\n\n

The student population in Italy is about 1,793,000, while the student housing system offers only 42,732 places (MUR). While the PNRR aims to increase supply, the dynamics induced by the growing presence of students and related investments are putting the welfare of students and residents at stake. The transformations of Italian university towns can only be framed in part in the existing town & gown literature.\u00a0New perspectives from Southern Europe<\/strong>, which locate urban changes in the reciprocal relationship between university, students and city, constitute an important advancement of knowledge in the debate, raising attention to a vital issue for most European cities.<\/p>\n\n

Ongoing research<\/h2>\n\n

The strand of research on the complex relationship between university and city began in 2020 with the\u00a0H2020 SMARTDEST project<\/strong>, in which part of the activities made it possible to analyse the forms of social exclusion connected to university student mobility in some areas of the city of Turin; among the outputs was the publication of the\u00a0Quaderno FULL \u201cTorino da fuori\u201d<\/strong>. Subsequently, this strand is developed within FULL through the implementation of two complementary projects running in parallel over the two-year period between the academic years 2023\/2024 and 2025\/2026. Both projects follow a multidisciplinary approach and involve research teams with members from inside and outside FULL, with expertise in the areas of urban planning and urban studies, geography and sociology.<\/p>\n\n

OSA<\/h3>\n\n

The two-year project OSA \u2013 Ossevatorio Student* and Abitare, which started in July 2023, funded by the DIST department and in which FULL is an operating partner and member of the coordination committee. Other strategic partners of the project are the City of Turin and IRES Piemonte (Institute of Economic and Social Research).<\/p>\n\n

OSA aims to set up an\u00a0observatory on the characteristics of the university student population<\/strong>\u00a0and its relationship with the\u00a0city of Turin<\/strong>, in particular with regard to the housing issue relating to the non-local component (students away from home). It is a necessary tool to know the consistency and characteristics of this population, such as the contexts of origin, where they live in Turin and the interactions with public and private actors, with the third sector and the territorial transformation strategies implemented by the administrations concerned.<\/p>\n\n

The observatory has the following practical objectives<\/p>\n\n