Constructing exclusive student communities: The rise of “superior” student accommodation and new geographies of exclusion

Abstract

This paper examines the development of exclusive student communities internationally. These exclusive high‐end residential developments have emerged over the last few years in response to a number of critical developments and drivers in the higher education sector globally, including, but not limited to, increasing commercialisation of the higher education sector, the privatisation of student accommodation and the increasing globalisation and internationalisation of the sector. This has led to the emergence of a new type of purpose‐built student accommodation (PBSA), managed by private or commercial companies that create and maintain exclusive student communities that are redefining student accommodation, as well as the student lifestyle and experience. As a result, new types of students are emerging as very significant actors in the city, especially those seeking and consuming the lifestyles and experiences offered. Based on an analysis of the websites and marketing strategies for 10 case studies and one large global property management company, we offer a discussion about exclusive student communities, with many questions raised here, pointing to new and pressing research trajectories that need to be explored, especially those related to the potential for segregation and intense inequalities within both the city and the wider student body. We argue that this new type of exclusive PBSA, and the associated constructions of a “superior” lifestyle, are generating new frontiers in the geographies of exclusion, not just between students and the wider city but within the student population, and policy responses are required.