The perception of stakeholders on studentification in Malang City, Indonesia

The growing number of students continuing their study to higher education creates a high demand for student housing and its supporting facilities in a college town. Residential areas near the campus become the main choice for students because it saves their cost and time, besides the wide selection of housing amenities and price becomes their consideration. Changes in the campus neighborhood area can lead to socio-cultural, economic, and physical impacts, which called as studentification. Therefore, this research aims to identify the perceptions of stakeholders about the impact of studentification in Malang City, as the most preferred college town in Indonesia. Descriptive qualitative research is based on a case study and the information obtained from in-depth interviews with stakeholders who engaged directly in the research area (namely students, boarding house owners, residents, and business actors). The results show that most of the socio-cultural, economic, and physical impacts that are found in other studies also occur in the research site. In this case, one of the differences can be seen in the socio-cultural character of students who always try to adapt to the habits of the local community, and on the other hand, residents try to understand how to treat students. This research shows that the presence of students has a positive impact on the area. Local people feel happy because the area becomes lively and more dynamic, and also improved the population welfare in the research area.