Understanding international students beyond studentification: A new class of transnational urban consumers. The example of Erasmus students in Lisbon (Portugal)

Abstract

For the last 10 years the city of Lisbon has been receiving an increasing number of international students, expanding considerably the supply of student accommodation. In spite of the resulting rise of a new and underdeveloped housing market directed to students, studentification is not exhibiting the usual concentration and segregation patterns of clustering across the city. On the contrary, the effects of student-related economic activities are spreading throughout Lisbon, overlapping with several urban transformations. An examination of international students’ lifestyles in Lisbon seems to demonstrate that diverse youth cultures of Erasmus students are colonising different districts and activities through diverse processes of belonging and distinction. Beyond the studentification literature (and its housing-supply centred perspective) it is necessary to recognise that international students become involved in broader urban processes such as the tourism industry, marginal gentrification or entrepreneurial creativity, thus becoming a new class of transnational urban consumers.