Shared housing for students and young adults and the urban-regeneration process of second-tier cities

In the context of growing housing and urban commodification, shared-housing accommodations have been developed for specific target groups, including students and young professionals. Such developments have preferably emerged in urban environments, including second-tier, student cities where they play a strategic role in urban regeneration. We investigate different types of shared housing aimed at young adults (from purpose-built student accommodation to co-living houses) in four Walloon cities (Belgium) with a high share of students, university premises and, for most of them, an industrial past. Based on desk research and interviews with civil servants and private investors, we examine how shared housing for students and young professionals has emerged in these cities, what are the actors conflicting interests in this housing segment, and what possible role it may play in urban regeneration. Our results show that civil servants are not especially preoccupied with access to affordable and quality housing for young adults, despite their significant presence, whereas political attention focuses on middle-class families. Conversely, the private sector primarily targets (international) young people in often high-priced developments with short-term tenure located in well-connected areas with access to amenities. Overall, shared housing for young adults grows in a legal void and acts as an unregulated tool of urban regeneration. Instruments measuring shared housing effects in regeneration areas appear to be missing to inform appropriate ways to address them in policy and planning.