Abstract
Universities impact significantly on, and indeed can define, cities: while University Cities may be dominated by individual institutions, there is a growing appreciation of the economic, social and cultural impact of universities on cities in more general terms. Universities are now seen as critical “anchor” institutions that drive urban economic growth as well as contributing to social and cultural activity. Despite the fact that university campuses are typically very large-scale pieces of infrastructure, outside obvious “heritage” buildings, university campuses are often neglected when thinking about urban environments. This is unfortunate because they can offer exemplars of common, public places that can guide and lead cities in thinking about shared space, citizen empowerment and the common good. However, university campuses are contested spaces and in this paper, drawing on ideas of the public commons and informed by theories of “the right to the city”, we investigate some aspects of campuses as contested terrain between university commitments to public engagement and increasing reliance on partnerships with corporate actors. Our particular interest in this respect is on “smart campus” initiatives (themselves arguably sub-sets of “smart city” activities) and on university-enterprise innovation districts, where universities and enterprises occupy shared spaces. The synergy and sustainability of these initiatives remains unproven; we examine the contribution conceptually and physically these spaces might make to the meaningful realisation of citizens’ rights in an urban environment. The paper draws on current projects at South East Technological University in Ireland.
Presenters
Richard HayesVice President, Strategy, South East Technological University, Waterford, Ireland
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Campus, Smart, Commons, Access, Rights, Citizen, Participation, Empowerment
