Differences and similarities in student residential mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Temuco and Montréal

Abstract

An analysis of the motivations of university students from Temuco (Chile) and Montréal (Canada) to change residence during the COVID-19 pandemic is presented based on data from a simultaneous survey in the two cities carried out in 2021. Quantitative analysis based on Principal Component Analysis showed a bifurcation between both cases despite the similarities they presented. Contrary to expectations that moves are first and foremost about the redundancy of student accommodation during the temporary transition to online learning or the need for more amenable study space in the home, the results highlight the primacy of psychological motivations, although economic, material and to a lesser extent family-related reasons for moving remain important. The context of each case study also allows for establishing differences between motivations more closely linked to material aspects and psychological and physical well-being in Montréal, and family-related motivations and psychological well-being in Temuco. Exploring this tension between individual motivations and urban contexts opens a promising way forward for new comparative studies in student housing and studentification research.