MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Name: Mduduzi Sibanda

Registration Number: R2110541B

MODULE: MLWR 708 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Lecturer: Mr. L SAMMIE

Question

1. There is a proposal to move the Faculties of Law and Agriculture, Environment and
Natural Resources Management to a new campus in Kwekwe. The campus is less than 20
km from the CBD and though there are plans for on-campus accommodation for both
students and staff only a minority will be housed on-campus with the rest commuting.
What are the potential socio-economic impacts of implementing this proposal? Your
discussion should touch on and show your understanding of the following impacts: direct
economic; indirect economic; demographics; housing; other local services; socio-cultural
and distribution effects.
[20marks]
 Introduction
Universities have n0t 0nly s0cial, cultural 0r ec0n0mic weight 0n their l0calities, they are usually
referred t0 as University Cities with str0ng spatial impacts. These impacts are als0 m0re
pr0n0unced due t0 rel0cati0n 0f university campuses (Greg0ry 2021).These campuses result in
Studentificati0n. The term was c0ined by Smith (2002) in describing the s0cial, envir0nmental,
cultural, ec0n0mic and dem0graphic impacts due t0 massive 0utp0uring 0f students describe the
‘c0ntradict0ry s0cial, cultural, ec0n0mic and physical changes’ resulting fr0m students p0uring
int0 a certain l0cality. The proposal to move the Faculties of Law and Agriculture, Environment
and Natural Resources Management to a new campus in Kwekwe will result in both negative and
positive sociocultural, direct and indirect economic impacts, demographic and impact on housing
as summurised on table 1.All these impacts c 0ntribute t0 give specific f0rm t0 the new
neighb0rh00d dynamics.

Table 1: Summary of impacts of the proposed relocation of MSU Campus.

Economic Impacts Demographics Housing impacts Local Services impacts Socio-Cultural Impacts
impacts
Direct -Population increase -Development of new -Pressure on local -Social and cultural
-Emergency of new due immigration of residential area services like water, commodification/erosion
businesses like fast students. -Gentrification and sewage. -Prostitution
food, transport, It will result in renovation of old -Pressure on health care, -Drugs and alcohol abuse
shops. younger population. houses waste management, -Noise
-Extra income -Increase population -Increase of houses energy demand. -Vandalism
through student density and value and rent -Increased load -Graffiti
rentals dependency ratio. -Vandalism of houses. shedding and water
-Seasonal shortages
Indirect depopulation because
-Increase of taxable of academic
income. holidays.

Economic Impacts

In terms of direct economic impacts the relocation of the campus will boost and stimulate
Kwekwe businesses and entrepreneurship. University campuses are known to stimulate local
economic and entrepreneurship in areas where they are located (Visser and Kisting 2019). Also
Isenberg (2010), asserts that the presence University campuses in a community can increase
entrepreneurial activities and business development. The development and the location of

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universities has been described as an evolution of new entrepreneurial paradigm and business
development (Sabri and Ludin 2009).In Kwekwe due to the proposed relocation of MSU campus
businesses like fast food and beverages, shops, transport and printing services will increase
drastically. In this case, business development has shown significant growth since many fast food
restaurants, supermarkets, minimarkets, petrol stations, food stalls, restaurants, laundry shops,
internet cafes, budget hotels and homestays were opened by the local people.

More so economically studentification will see the local retail sand services sectors benefitting
the most terms by improving taxation income of Kwekwe. The local retail and services sectors
usually benefit the most, and some studies have reported improved taxation income for local
authorities (Avni and Alfasi 2018) states that studentification and the presence of universities can
see the increase in the volume of business leading to new companies created or supported by
university students. A significant point was raised by Pastor, Pérez and De Guevara (2013) who
stated that universities generate economic impacts and contribute towards facilities development
such as constructing and maintaining buildings, laboratories, research parks, and additional types
of facilities along with associated transportation and other infrastructure. Moreover, the campus
will facilitate the ways of interaction of different stake holders in Kwekwe creating symbiotic
interactions that will lead to sustainable economic environment. In terms of economic negative
impacts the relocation of the campuses will result in the increase of food, transport and other
services prices due to high demand.

Demographics Impacts

The relocation of MSU campus to Kwekwe will result in the change periodic or seasonal change
of the population structure of the Kwekwe and population imbalance. University students usually
range from 19 years to 30 years. This will make the population of Kwekwe young since larger
proportion of students are young people who are still dependent on parents. This proposal will
also increase dependency ratio of the local population. Demographical the proposal will lead to
improvements of the population’s human capital lead to improvements in labour, which in turn
foster greater job creations and increase unemployment rates in the surrounding area. Also due to
end of semester holidays there will be seasonal depopulation in Kwekwe. More the location of a
campus in Kwekwe will lead to seasonal population increase due to incoming of students.

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Studentificati0n can create segregati0n between the student p0pulati0n and the neighb0urh00d
residents (Munro et al., 2009).

Housing impacts

The relocation of the campus spatial and physical will have an impact on the demand and supply
of housing in the immediate area. Studentification in Kwekwe will result the increase of housing
demand leading to high rents and value of houses in the local area. Residents in lower-income
neighbourhoods can make much-needed extra income by letting rooms to students.
Studentification can create a robust student housing market attracting premium rents (Baron and
Kaplan 2010) and some suburbs have reported an increase in property prices because of
studentification (Visser and Kisting 2019). The presence of MSU campus will lead to spatial and
physical expansion of some residential areas or the development of new residential area.
According to spatial and physical expansion can either increase or decrease the amount of
useable land for residential development. On the positive side, research from the Global North
shows that studentification through commercial student housing can serve as a gentrifier (Sabri
and Ludin 2009)

Also the proposal will have an effect on the quality of housing in Kwekwe. The influx of
students or studentification may reduce the quality of housing due to vandalism by students. A
general decline in the percentage of owner-occupied homes will result in to physical changes
including generally rumpled properties, dirtiness and carelessness. A series of adverse impacts
has been reported in EU especially in Britain where the influx of students initially resulted in the
renovation and upgrading of houses however this was followed by downgrading of the area with
gardens and streets neglected and polluted (Gregory, 2021). Studentification usually causes
parking, and traffic problems in the neighborhood, disrupting other residents, as well as other
challenges such as unattended homes, accumulation waste and vandalism of some houses
(Hubbard, 2008). Concerning the effects of studentification on the property markets, on the
negative side there is a trend for big property investors to purchase family homes and
transforming them into large scale student housing estates, extinguishing the ambience and the
original scenery and the neighbourhood (Kenna 2011).

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Local services impacts

The proposal to relocate the campus to Kwekwe will strain local services like health, sewer,
waste management, water and electrify supply jus to mention but a few. The influx of students
and staff will result in local population increase dependent local services meant for a
considerable local population. The impacts the proposal will include water supply shortage as
well as increased power cuts as means to save electricity. Also sewer pipes might be
overwhelmed leading chronic bursting or blocked sewer pipes. The increase in population will
also see the increase in domestic waste generation that might overwhelm the local waste
management services capacity. Also health care services might be strained by the increase of
local population who will need health care during the semester.

Socio-Cultural and distribution effects

In terms of Socio-cultural impacts of universities on their environs they have an influence on

through the generation of social and cultural activities. As a result the quality of life of the local
population will improve. The universities are usually made of students with various cultural and
social background that impact the local communities. The local community will learn and
appreciate various cultures, languages and social norms from students. 0n the p0sitive side,
studentification can add value to a community’s cultural and social mix (Smith, 2008). On the
negative side studentification will lead to increase in prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse, social
and cultural erosion and crime. Among the social problems of studentification are overcrowding,
night partying and traffic congestion, and even crime in the form of theft, hooliganism and street
fighting (Omar et al., 2011, Weiss, 2013, W0ld0ff and Weiss, 2018). 0ther residents’ sense 0f
place attachment can be disrupted (Macintyre, 2003, Sage et al., 2013According to usually high
density of students can lead to physical mess, noise, vandalism, traffic problems and other social
vices. Traffic problems line with the geographic trend of the concentration of social groups in
society, some common perceptions of change in student areas point to an increase in low level
anti-social behaviour.

Furthermore, major social impacts will include high noise nuisance coming from student’s
houses and prostitution amongst students as well as with local community members especially

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elderly men. This can sometimes include issues such as noise nuisance emanating from houses,
streets or gardens, vandalism of vehicles, street furniture and private property, and vomiting and
urination in the streets. Also issues of social conflict with existing residents will arise especially
dressing codes that female students prefer which the local community will find offensive and
nudity. Students in these suburbs often openly disregard the existing cultural norms and values
(Chattert0n, 1999). Some areas of Kwekwe will become are ‘student ghettoes’, which will strive
during the semester and ghost towns during semester holidays.

Conclusion

Conclusively proposal to move the Faculties of Law and Agriculture, Environment and Natural
Resources Management to a new campus in Kwekwe will result on both negative and positive
impacts on the local environment.

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References

Avni, Nufar, and Nurit Alfasi. 2018. "UniverCity: The vicious cycle of studentification in a
peripheral city." City & Community 17 (4): 1248-1269.
Baron, Mira G, and Sigal Kaplan. 2010. "The impact of'studentification'on the rental housing
market."
Gregory, James Jenkins. 2021. Studentification in South Africa: a Socio-Spatial Investigation of
Neighbourhood Change. University of Johannesburg (South Africa).
Kenna, Therese. 2011. "Studentification in Ireland? Analysing the impacts of students and
student accommodation on Cork City." Irish Geography 44 (2-3): 191-213.
Sabri, Soheil, and Ahmad Nazri Muhamad Ludin. 2009. "Studentification': Is it a key factor
within the residential decision-making process in Kuala Lumpur." South East Asian
Technical Universities Consortium–3rd SEATUC Symposium Proceedings. Johor Bahru,
http://eprints. utm. my/12452/1/SoheilSabri2008_StudentificationIsItKeyFactor. pdf.
Visser, Gustav, and Dene Kisting. 2019. "Studentification in Stellenbosch, South Africa."
Urbani izziv 30: 158-177.