Toward a Sustainable Relationship between City and University

Abstract

E conomic systems are made up of brains and bodies, and the knowledge economy is no exception. In the context of higher education, the natural tendency for Western men and women to situate themselves in the contemporary information-driven economic paradigm is frequently followed by periods of advanced academic and in-company training and, in some cases, university careers.The knowledge economy itself is also made up of places. Large parts of produced knowledge have been rendered footloose by new technologies, and this is one of the driving forces of globalization (allowing, for instance, the spatial disarticulation of production processes and the world-scale coordination of financial operations). Yet the elicitation and production of knowledge is an inherently local process, feeding on territorial idiosyncrasies (Castells 1996) such as the following: local culture and creativity, social structures and political conditions, economic development trajectories, technology access regimes, physical versus virtual accessibility, and the quality and style of education.In turn, it could be argued that produced knowledge contributes to the development of the places that host such processes to the extent that it becomes rooted in the structure of local interests. In this way, the local community becomes a stakeholder, establishing a stewardship for knowledge. As such, academic training-a powerful generator of knowledge-cannot be demarcated from the social and environmental context in which it takes place, as this will determine the extent to which knowledge filters and sediments in local socioeconomic processes. The center of attention in this case is typically the city, for higher education has been developing in Europe essentially as an urban phenomenon (Capel 2002). In particular, large cities and metropolitan areas are the places where "town-gown" relationships are likely to be more complex, as the positions and ambitions of urban stakeholders are particularly varied and well articulated.One can argue that the generation of new knowledge serves global development, but it also becomes a solid factor of competitive advantage for cities where it is produced to such an extent that it is managed in the best interest of the local society. This means, among other things, establishing strong and synergetic links between the host community and the landscape generated by higher education. This consists of the extensive physical fabric of the university, with its faculties, laboratories, classrooms, student faculties, university premises, and public spaces. AbstractWhile the impact of knowledge assets on regional economies receives much attention in the economic literature, management and planning issues regarding the relationships between academic and local agents are underinvestigated. In this article, it is argued that universities could be a driving force for urban development, provided cities succeed in embedding knowledge in the local social and economic networks, which is seen to depend to a large extent on the balance in t...

Studentification in Bloemfontein, South Africa

“…Some have students as cultural investors (Midgley, 2002), presenting planning strategies to rejuvenate neighbourhoods. According to Allinson (2006), the most cited negative impact of student populations was their lifestyles, namely their preference for excessive noise, drunkenness and late nights (Allinson, 2006;Russo, Van den Berg, Lavanga, 2007;Selwyn, 2008) and the establishment of fast-food takeaways and off-licences selling cheap alcohol that come to dominate the shopping streets (Harris et al (2002). In a neighbourhood that experiences a high concentration of students, there are usually no attempts from the students to interact with their neighbours (Hubbard, 2006).…”

Universities as Anchor Institutions: Economic and Social Potential for Urban Development

“…Universities and their students may also create problems and challenges for major city-regions (Gumprecht, 2003 ;Kemp, 2013 ;Russo et al, 2007 ). A case study of the University of Cincinnati (McGirr et al, 2003 ) offers insight into how rapid growth in student enrollment in the 1960s negatively infl uenced the surrounding neighborhood.…”

“…The rise of the city as a pivotal hub of the global economy, the concurrent decline of national governments, and the lack of public funding pushed the university into a role as a regional economic booster (Ohmae, 1995 ;Russo, van den Berg, & Lavanga, 2007 ). Universities offer access to knowledge networks, deliver knowledge to students and workers, and improve local business environments (Benneworth & Arbo, 2006 ;Chatterton & Goddard, 2000 ;Clark, 1998 ).…”

“…Researchers that use other frames typically rely on stakeholder theory (Jongbloed et al, 2008 ;Russo et al, 2007 ) or other economic theories relying on spatial factors (Glaeser & Gottlieb, 2009 ;Martin-Brelot et al, 2010 ;McLafferty & Preston, 1992 ;Oort, 2002 ). However, these theories have limited ability to explain the specifi c actions of stakeholders or institutions.…”

Reshaping urban space through studentification in two South African urban centres

“…Economic ramifications of studentification are said to impact supply and demand, house price inflation, conditions of housing structures and a seasonal economic growth (Hall, 2008;Hubbard, 2006;Macintyre, 2003;Russo et al, 2007;Standing Conference of Principals & the Local Government Association, 2006). Similarly, as is the case in gentrification, the rent-gap theory (Smith, 1987) can be applied to studentification.…”