Student Residential Student Residential AccommodationAccommodation in Global Cities: in ImprovingGlobal Cities: Student ExperienceImproving Student andExperience Engagementand Engagement Research Report for Sodexo October 2019 BARTLETT REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE GLOBAL CENTRE FOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................2 List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................3 1. Expansion of universities in global cities ............................................................................5 1.2 Growth of student numbers in selected global cities ...........................................................5 1.3 Influence of students in the cities .........................................................................................5 1.4 Responses from cities, universities, and the real estate sector ............................................6 2. Student engagement .............................................................................................................7 2.1 Understanding student engagement ....................................................................................7 2.2 The role of student residential accommodation ...................................................................7 2.3 Surveys and ratings ..............................................................................................................8 2.4 Building on existing approaches ...........................................................................................8 3. Evolution of student residential accommodation ...............................................................9 3.1 Emergence and complexity of student residential accommodation .....................................9 3.2 SRA designs and shared areas ...........................................................................................11 3.3 Diverse provision and providers .........................................................................................12 4. Methodology: Literature review and case studies in three cities ....................................13 4.1 Literature review ..................................................................................................................13 4.2 Definition of student residential accommodation and global city .......................................13 4.3 Selection of cases and methods ........................................................................................13 4.4 The cities .............................................................................................................................14 4.5 The Universities ..................................................................................................................15 5. Key Findings .........................................................................................................................16 5.1 Student views of their experience and engagement ..........................................................16 5.2 SRA Staff views ..................................................................................................................18 5.3 University views ..................................................................................................................19 6. Improving student experience and engagement ..............................................................20 6.1 Pre-arrival ............................................................................................................................20 6.2 On arrival .............................................................................................................................20 6.3 During studies .....................................................................................................................20 6.4 During exams/testing periods .............................................................................................21 6.5 Departure and post-departure ............................................................................................21 7. Future issues for student residential accommodation ....................................................22 7.1 Importance of staff and their training ..................................................................................22 7.2 Digital tools .........................................................................................................................22 7.3 Connecting students ...........................................................................................................22 7.4 Curating the facilities ..........................................................................................................22 7.5 Future-proofing student residential accommodation: blended living? ...............................23 7.6 Need for solid data .............................................................................................................23 References ...............................................................................................................................24 Appendix A: Case study sites ......................................................................................................27 Appendix B: Sample comments by students ...............................................................................32 Appendix C: Sample comments by staff ......................................................................................34 BARTLETT REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE GLOBAL CENTRE FOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION IN GLOBAL CITIES: Improving student experience and engagement Page 1 Acknowledgements We wish to express our sincere thanks to many colleagues who made this re- search project possible, especially to the project sponsors, Sodexo Schools & Universities UK, for their sincere interest and support in this research. Thanks to our colleagues in UCL Accommodation who generously shared their ideas and facilitated access to several student residences. Sincere thanks also to the teams from Student Living by Sodexo at Northumbria University Newcastle who guided our visits to several sites of student accommodation and spent time in discussion. To our colleagues at the University of Amsterdam and Vrije University we extend appreciation for graciously sharing their time, knowledge and facilities with us – even including bicycles to navigate the city. And to all of the staff and students who participated in our focus group sessions and interviews, thank you for sharing your thoughts, experiences and expertise. We hope that this short project will lead to better understanding the importance of student residential accommodation, SRA, in global cities to benefit students, universities and the staff who contribute to forging positive student experience and engagement. The research was conducted by UCL from late 2018 to May 2019 by Dr Zachery Spire and Professor Alexi Marmot, and officially launched at a joint UCL/Sodexo event in October 2019. List of Abbreviations FE................Further Education – UK term generally refers to non-university tertiary education HE ...............Higher Education – UK term generally refers to universities HEI ..............Higher Education Institution KCL ............Kings College London PBSA .........Purpose-Built Student Accommodation SRA ............Student Residential Accommodation UCL ............University College London UvA.............Universiteit van Amsterdam VU ...............Vrije Universiteit BARTLETT REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE GLOBAL CENTRE FOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS STUDENT RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION IN GLOBAL CITIES: Improving student experience and engagement Page 2 Executive Summary Student residential accommodation, SRA, continues to be a critical component of many students’ engagement in higher education, HE. In this research, we focus particularly on student residential accommodation in global cities where housing pressures and costs are acute. The research aims to improve operational and theoretical understanding of the role of student resi- dential accommodation as an element within the wider student experience. In addition to the litera- ture review, the research is based primarily on visits, focus groups and interviews with a sample of staff and students in eight case study sites across four higher education institutions in two capital cities, Amsterdam (Netherlands), London (UK) and a regional city, Newcastle (UK). The context to the research is that participation in HE continues to grow across the globe at a con- siderably faster rate than the supply of purpose-built student accommodation, PBSA. And there is a clear gap between supply of PBSA and supply, demand and distribution of non-PBSA housing avail- able for domestic and international demand. Student numbers are rising particularly in large glob- al cities. Data are increasingly available for prospective students on university rankings and urban rankings. City governments, universities and the real estate industry across the contexts we studied have responded by policy and planning, and, increasing the quantity and variety of privately funded student residential accommodation. Staff responsible for student accommodation