The Spatial Reflection of Poverty: Student Dormitories
Chapter from the book:
Abdullah,
A.
&
Mecek,
M.
(eds.)
2025.
Theoretical and Applied Approaches in Social Sciences.
Synopsis
Poverty, which surrounds human life even before birth, has entered a phase where its presence is felt more intensely every day, with a significant limiting effect on access to basic rights such as food, education, health, transport and housing. So much so that, due to the injustice in income distribution, lifestyles that reproduce social inequality are increasingly expanding. This expansion also affects the lives of students who must cover their accommodation expenses in order to continue their university education during the transition from childhood to adulthood. Despite rising private accommodation costs and private dormitory fees, With rising house rents and private dormitory prices, along with the insufficient capacity of state dormitories, the number of students unable to start university education or who have discontinued their studies and returned to live with their families is on the rise. The long-term social consequences of this cycle, in which poverty deprives individuals not only of their right to education and food, but also of their right to determine their own destiny, include the proliferation of precarious jobs, along with the risks of reproducing unemployment, insecurity and power asymmetries. However, research on the spatial projection of poverty reveals a notable lack of literature on the location of student dormitories. This study aims to present a critical perspective that questions how the current system operates in relation to students whose right to housing is violated, what purposes it serves, and under what conditions it is shaped, as an attempt to overcome this limitation. Our study considers the university years to be a distinctive period in every student's life. It takes a critical look at the right to accommodation in higher education, which is a relatively neglected area of youth welfare. It adopts a critical perspective, treating halls of residence as living-learning communities. It also considers life skills workshops. The study argues for the protection of university students' right to accommodation, , and highlights the need to restructure dormitory services accordingly. It is based on the concepts of dignified dormitories and democratic The right to accommodation and dormitory social services. It aims to contribute to academic literature and inform policymakers.
