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Introduction

Studentification and the student enclave of Utrecht Overvecht

- Studentification leading
to segregation,
By Ingmar
de Beukelaar
and more particularly self-segregation.

16-06-2015

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Studentification and the student enclave of Utrecht

Overvecht
By Ingmar de Beukelaar

tudentification the increased student

occupation of the local housing market
is becoming very common in Utrecht,
which is partly known as a lively student city.
Interestingly,
the
phenomenon
of
studentification is said to be typically
something for university towns where oncampus accommodation is not sufficient to
house all students going to the university.
Therefore, particular areas become associated
with rising rental accommodation targeting
students. In this article, I will discuss the
process of studentification in the city of Utrecht
complemented by a case study of the student
enclave of Utrecht Overvecht.

Studentification in Utrecht
Studentification is often linked with
gentrification. It is argued that studentification
can be considered under the term of
gentrification, given that both processes
stimulate social segregation and
widening socio-spatial polarization of
different social groups, via the
displacement of established residential
groups (Smith & Holt, 2007, p. 157). In
Utrecht, students may be considered as
the pioneers of gentrification giving a
boost to the image of the city. In the
literature (e.g. Slater, 2006) appears that
those pioneers are often negatively
perceived by the rest of the citys population.
Students are identified as a distinctive and
different group because their lifestyles are
often perceived to lie outside the norms of
society, making them infrequent or
unwelcome visitor in many of the space that
are the loci of mainstream social life (Daniels
et. al., 2012, p. 226). Even though it is somehow
true that studentification reduces the chances for
positive and mutually beneficial interactions
between social groups, as a cause of a different
lifestyle,
it
is
discussable
whether

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studentification leads to impoverishment or to a

positive boost to the environment.
In the literature, (e.g. Smith & Holt, 2007, p.
148) the effects of studentification have been
largely perceived as detrimental, for instance by
stimulating a physical downgrading of the
urban environment (Smith & Holt, 2007, p.
148). In the next paragraph, examples of the
effects of studentification will be discussed for
the neighborhood of Overvecht in Utrecht.

Student enclave of Utrecht Overvecht

As stated before, off-campus student
accommodation in the form of shared rental
housing has become increasingly significant in
Utrecht. Utrecht Overvecht is one example of a
place that can observe a rise of students that
settles in the area.

Originally, the
neighborhood of Overvecht has a negative
reputation characterized by high criminality,
run-down buildings and overall
impoverishment. But Overvecht is also a
multicultural neighborhood that can observe
new positive changes. An interesting change is

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the arrival of approximately 700 students in the
area of Camera Obscuradreef in Overvecht.
The students are currently and temporarily
living in post-war flats that are on the list to be
renovated (Algemeen Dagblad, 2015).
Although, the place is very popular among
students, because of its location and relatively

To conclude, the process of studentification in

the city of Utrecht and in the case study of
Utrecht Overvecht, lead both to negative and
positive effects. Although environmental and
social transformation occurring in
neighborhoods undergoing student expansion,
are often illustrated with highly dramatized
stereotypes of images of overgrown
gardens and rubbish left out, I believe
that studentification in Utrecht also
gives a boost to the city and improves
the image of the bad reputed
neighborhood of Overvecht.
Studentification in a certain way
gives a boost by creating a new
social mix, bringing new economic
capital and liveability to the
neighborhoods in Utrecht.

References
low rent price, general negative
arguments that can be noted are that students
often cause noise and nuisance, displace local
long term residents and fail to contribute to
community life (e.g. Hubbard, 2008; Daniels et
al., 2012, p. 226). All in all, the main effects
of studentification that can be observed in the
enclave of Utrecht Overvecht are increasing
number of bikes, rising empty car spots,
overgrown gardens, rubbish left out, more
parties and fewer criminality than before.
Probably, the first reaction is that those effects
stimulate impoverishment in the neighborhood,
but in my opinion this is not the case. I believe
the problem is not environmental, but perhaps
more social. There is indeed few contact
between the new arrived students and long
term residents, often from a non-Dutch
ethnical background. This lack of social
contact was observed during a research on
social cohesion between students and nonstudents in the area of Camera Obscuradreef in
Overvecht (Bijman, de Beukelaar, Diederen,
Ebell & Hoeks, 2014).

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Algemeen Dagblad (2015). Studenten enclave in

sloopflats van Overvecht,
http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1039/Utrecht/article/detail/392353
0/2015/03/25/Studenten-enclave-in-sloopflats-vanOvervecht.dhtml. Visited on 16-06-2015.
Bijman, K., Beukelaar, I. de, Diederen, S., Ebell, K. &
Hoeks, S. (2014). Sociale mix & herstructurering:
onderzoek naar sociale cohesie tussen studenten en niet
studenten in Overvecht. Cursus inleiding stadsgeografie,
Sociale Geografie en Planologie, Faculteit
Geowetenschappen, Universiteit Utrecht.
Daniels, P., Bradshaw, M., Shaw, D. & Sidaway, J.
(2012). An introduction to Human Geography, Pearson:
UK, 4th edition, pp. 226-227.
Hubbard, P. (2008). Regulating the social impacts of
studentification: a Loughborough case
study. Environment and Planning A, 40(2), 323.
Slater, T. (2006). The eviction of critical perspectives
from gentrification research, International Journal of
Urban and Regional Research, 30.4, p. 737-757.
Smith, D. P., & Holt, L. (2007). Studentification and
apprentice gentrifiers within Britain's provincial towns
and cities: extending the meaning of gentrification.
Environment and Planning A, 39(1), 142.

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