Setting up a University City. Geographies of Exclusion in North Turin

Abstract

Universities have progressively seen a change in their role as actors in the transformation of cities, with the growth of student populations and related studentification processes that are seen both as drivers of development and causes of negative externalities. What risks being overshadowed, however, is the complex array of interests and agencies that are involved. The aim of the article is, thus, to explore the production of geographies of exclusion that cannot be simply linked to the negative impacts directly exerted by the increased pressure of students' concentrations on specific neighbourhoods. They can also be related to the specific form that urban development strategies driven by higher education institutions takes in post‐industrial cities. The case of Turin, Italy, shows that a dominant narrative on the role of universities has triggered various stakeholders' strategic orientation and that, therefore, variegated transformations can be interpreted as the effects of capital investments that materialise in university‐related ‘fixes’.

The University and the Neighbourhood—Opportunities and Limits in Promoting Social Innovation: The Case of AuroraLAB in Turin (Italy)

“…An extensive portion of the academic literature is now focusing precisely on the role of the university in the transformation processes of certain urban areas, both concerning housing-i.e., rent growth-and concerning the complementary offers, such as leisure venues and premises designed for the student target and going so far as to coin the concept of studentification [49,50]. The case of AuroraLAB has shown the complexity of "entering" a neighbourhood such as Aurora, where the effects of studentification are now tangible due to its proximity to some university campuses and will be so especially in the following years, and the resulting impact on the more fragile population of the neighbourhood [51,52]. For this reason, some neighbourhood groups mistrusted AuroraLAB and its local action as representatives of the Politecnico di Torino.…”

Chased from Heaven or Escaping Tourist Hell? Venice's Graduate Students in Focus

“…The 'tourist context' as a forcefield framing such processes is examined among others by López-Gay et al (2021) or Carvalho et al (2019). Cenere et al (2023), in this special issue, consider students temporarily living in university cities at the same time as gentrifiers or gentrified and marginalised subjects; this ambivalence pervades public discourses and policy initiatives to secure their attraction, which tend to become messier in implementation and do not ensure retention.…”

Introduction to the Special Issue: Cities and Universities. Discourses, Spatialities, and Material Infrastructures of University‐Driven Urban Change

“…In line with the analytical lens advanced by Ruming, the paper by Cenere et al . (2023) investigates how, in Turin (Italy), processes of university‐led urban transformations are associated to structural changes in mainstream policies and urban narratives. The narrative that identifies HE as a key growth strategy for the city has framed multiple actions of both institutional actors and players in student‐related economic sectors.…”