Student campus The City: a cosy but luxury village in the big city

Gaming, fitness and partying on the roof. The City looks a bit like a luxury resort. Yet people also live and study here. The apartment building can serve as a model for the new way of living on the Reitse Campus, but can it be rented for a lower price?

Angelos Tzevelekas sits in the sun in front of the main entrance and smokes a cigarette. When Univers asks him what it’s like to live here, he is immediately willing to talk about his life in The City and even takes the time for a small tour.

Angelos is from Athens, Greece, and studies psychology. He likes life in the complex very much. In his first year in Tilburg, he lived in the Stationsstraat opposite the police station. It was often noisy on the streets there, he says.

‘I signed up for a studio here very early on, I was the second occupant,’ Angelos says. ‘Everything was new there and I quickly made new friends.’ This is noticeable when we take a tour of the building. Fellow residents greet him warmly, like old friends, and that suits his casual style.

Internationals

The City, the student complex next to the university’s sports fields, was completed in January 2024. More  than 650 students live there, spread over 530 furnished student flats. Landlord Magis Vastgoed calls this flat ‘Next-level student housing’.

There is a lot to do for residents and the service desk at the entrance is manned 24 hours a day. Activities are announced on a notice board, such as a karaoke night and a flea market. ‘That was an idea from a Polish resident,’ explains Csegő Boros, a student of International Business Administration, from Hungary. ‘When we move, we have things left over and new residents need things, so that’s how we help each other.’

Csegő and Sude Çakmak are members of the residents’ committee that regularly consults with the landlord. Sude from Turkey is writing her thesis for a master’s degree in Business Communication and Digital Media.

Ideal for newcomers

‘This is an ideal place, especially for new students,’ Csegő says. ‘In a foreign city or a foreign country, everything is new. Then it’s nice to come here. You have every chance to make new friends, but we can also assist you with practical advice or a listening ear.’

The City could be a good example for the new Reitse Campus district to be developed, between the center and the university. Students are allowed to live there as long as they are registered as students, and it does not matter whether they study in Tilburg or, for example, in Rotterdam. The student complex has quickly become a hotspot for students, also from outside the building. Because there are parties that everyone likes to come to.

Meeting

Sude: ‘It has become a meeting place for residents and non-residents. There are many visitors who feel more at home here than in their own home.’ That’s nice, but sometimes it also has disadvantages, she acknowledges, because it can get quite late at those parties, and then the whole flat can ‘enjoy’ it.

‘It would be good if the communal areas and facilities of new flats were to be located at a central point, not in the flat itself,’ says Csegő. ‘Then several flats can use it and the nuisance stays outside. In addition, I think there should be a common space for all students. Not just for us.’

Resort

In the meantime, Angelos leads us past all the common areas. The residents have their own kitchen, but can also use a large communal kitchen with all the trimmings. There is also a bar, a gym and climbing hall, a ‘Garden Zen’ room, and even a fully equipped music room with drum kit and keyboard.

There is also a games room with pool table. ‘And in the penthouse on the roof you can study or enjoy the sun outside,’ says Angelos. ‘There are also parties on the ‘rooftop’.’ The complex looks more like a resort than a student flat.

That does come with a hefty price tag. ‘Mainly internationals live here, although every student is welcome,’ say Csegő and Sude. But the studios are way above the budget of most students. Angelos has 26 square meters at his disposal for 1,250 euros per month. For ‘The Executive Residence’, a student residence of 49 square meters on the thirteenth floor, almost 1,600 euros including additional costs is asked.

Affordable

Csegő and Sude acknowledge this. If the municipality wants to further develop the Reitse Campus, affordable apartments and rooms are also needed. Because they are lucky: ‘Thanks to my mother, I can live here, but I also work on the side, because I think I should also contribute myself,’ says Csegő. ‘In addition, I have the advantage that I am an EU student and can live here freely. Sude doesn’t have that and is much more expensive.’

‘There are many visitors who feel more at home here than in their own home’

Sude: ‘I know many friends who live under very difficult circumstances. Because not every home is suitable for students, and often the rent is too high or it is not really clean and liveable. I have one friend who had to move because of the rent. And after that, she had to look for a new place every two months. I don’t think it’s fair.’

Reitse Campus

In the coming years, the area will be overhauled. The municipality of Tilburg is going  to build a lot of new homes and facilities in the district. In addition to the university’s sports centre, there are sports fields, but also a secondary school, a childcare centre and a caravan camp. It is still a mixed bag of destinations.

‘What I might want to add is a small concept store or a supermarket nearby,’ says Csegő. They have already raised these points with the municipality. So far, it has only been one meeting, but the students would like to see that meeting take place more often.

For example, about another point that Sude would like to raise: ‘There should be a bus stop in front of the door. It feels quite unsafe when you come back at night and as a girl you have to walk through a deserted neighborhood on your own.’

General practitioner

‘And we don’t have a family doctor,’ says Csegő. ‘There is a waiting list for General Practitioners in our neighbourhood. So for us, the only option remains first aid. One of my classmates fainted, and I took her to the hospital. But there they said that I had to go to the doctor first, who had to determine whether it was an emergency. I stood there with a fainting girl in my arms.’

‘In addition, many internationals don’t live in a community like this, and they don’t know what to do if they need a doctor or psychologist,’ Sude adds.

Small village

Despite the shortcomings, the residents are very happy with their place. And although most living spaces are studios for one person, that’s not a problem for Csegő: ‘It’s sometimes a bit lonely in your room, but as soon as I leave the house I can meet anyone.’ ‘The sense of community is really stimulated here,’ says Angelos. And that gives the feeling of a small village in a big city.

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