Author: Mathilda Golay, Masterstudent UvA.
Msc Thesis - How international students navigate the housing market in Amsterdam
by Mathilda Golay
This thesis seeks to explore the different strategies that foreign students endorse to access housing opportunities in the context of the Amsterdam housing market while acknowledging the role of both resources allocation and structural elements that shape foreign students’ experiences. In this difficult marker, housing scarcity and intense competition pose significant hurdles to home-seekers. This is especially true for foreign students.
Beginning with an overview of the housing crisis in Amsterdam and its history, this study relies on the concepts of capitals and arenas to identify the obstacles foreign students face; to analyse home-seeking
strategies; and to identify the different spheres of the rental market in which foreign students seek accommodation. Results reveal that international students consciously mobilize diverse forms of capital to access housing opportunities. Moreover, this work develops the concept of arenas as applied to the rental field and shows that foreign students mobilize different capitals differently in the various arenas of the rental market. The insight this thesis offers insight is valuable in understanding better the consequences of the housing crisis and what can be done to ensure that education stays accessible for all.
Image credits
Icon image: Mika Baumeister via Unsplash | Woning - Housing