The Impact of Studentification on the Sustainable Planning and Development of an Established City

Kimberley was established in 1871 when the first diamond was found in the Kimberley region and then in 2013, the construction of Sol Plaatje University started, and in 2014, they enrolled their first students. Therefore, this study will determine the impact of studentification on Kimberley’s sustainable planning and development. Studentification can be defined as transforming the university’s surrounding neighbourhoods with the influx of students and university staff. Studentification refers to the increase in the number of students in the university areas, as these increases impact the socio-economic and physical aspects of the urban space. Thus, this study will focus on the physical infrastructure and land uses and determine the impact of studentification on Kimberley’s urban social spaces and economic and environmental aspects. The study will also categorise different student housing needs and address these student accommodation needs.

This research will adopt a non-experimental approach, which will adopt a qualitative methodology consisting of interviews with specific individuals as a purposeful selection of these individuals who have a good understanding of the research and will be seen as an asset to the study. Nevertheless, the data will be collected through multiple sources and divided into primary and secondary data collection. The primary collection of data will consist of the interview process of 17 specific individuals, and the secondary collection of data will focus on pre-existing data as reviewing of literature and policies and analysing statistics of Kimberley. This is just a brief understanding of the methodology of the study.

As part of the secondary data collection, section 2 illustrates the existing literature on studentification reflection on sustainable planning and development and student housing. Reviewing these aspects will provide a broad understanding of the topics relevant to the study. Then, section 3 will review the existing national and provincial legislation, strategies, plans and programmes that govern studentification and student accommodation in South Africa. Reviewing these processes will focus on determining the effects of studentification on Kimberley’s current land uses, infrastructure, Local Economic Development, property values, and the various housing needs of students and how these can be accommodated.

The empirical investigation will be divided into two sections to determine the impact of studentification on Kimberley's sustainable planning and development. Analysed the primary data collected through interviews with professional planners, SPU Senior Manager and Student Support and Physical Planning and Infrastructure Director, and residents in surrounding neighbourhoods. These personal interview questions will be formulated to answer the three research questions of the study. Nevertheless, analysing these interviews, they have identified challenges and recommendations for studentification in Kimberley.

Then, with the identified challenges and recommendations, two proposals will be formulated, planning policy frameworks and innovations for off-campus student housing. These two proposals would positively affect Kimberley's studentification and promote off-campus student accommodation.