Rethinking Positionality, Pedagogy, and Implications for Planning Practice: A Case Study of an International Student Housing Studio Project

 Amidst the controversial policy discussions surrounding international student housing, we carried out a timely planning studio project in the fall of 2023 with a group of 11 4th year undergraduate planning students at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, Toronto Metropolitan University, investigating the lacking housing infrastructure for international students in Southern Ontario (Zhuang, 2024). Since then, the federal government capped international student visas to 360,000 (IRCC, 2024), effective in January 2024, to alleviate the pressures on the strained housing market, which long predate the recent influx of IS. The cap has had dire consequences on many higher educational institutions, and it is highly questionable whether the cap will solve any of Canada’s serious housing problems. International students are culturally and economically important to Canadian society, contributing to the country’s economic prosperity, knowledge networks, and global competitiveness. Despite these enormous contributions, international students remain highly vulnerable to housing insecurity, systemic exploitation, and human rights abuses.

While our planning studio explored the housing experiences of 24 international students and the perspectives of 5 multi-sectoral stakeholders (Zhuang, 2024), this blog post reflects on the studio pedagogy, the student studio experiences, and their implications for planning practice, particularly from the positionality and perspectives of the studio project team, which included the supervisor (first author), a domestic student (second author), and two international students. In addition, one of the interviewed international students provided feedback on how positionality shaped their involvement in the project.

Why positionality matters in planning pedagogy and practice

 As Dr. Yasminah Beebeejaun, a leading planning scholar argues in her seminal article Race, Gender, and Positionality in Urban Planning Research, “the mainstream planning research focus on professional practitioners and expert knowledge in order to address planning problems may favor an absence of engagement with messy questions of positionality and sustain claims to neutral or objective research” (2022, p. 2).  Consequently, minority forms of knowledge have been historically excluded from planning scholarship and practice.

Within the context of this studio project, positionality matters in shaping both pedagogy and planning actions. Our identities and experiences influenced how we framed housing problems, designed and delivered the studio, engaged with international students, and interpreted and valued their housing experiences and challenges, while acknowledging the power dynamics between the instructor, studio student researchers (both domestic and international), the international student interviewees, and the community stakeholders.

The studio team’s attention to positionality and reflexivity also carried practical implications. Students came to understand that future housing policy change must be grounded in rigorous evidence which requires the active engagement of researchers with diverse positionalities – or “multiple positionalities,” a term that refers to the varied lenses and lived experiences researchers bring to their work, shaping planning methodologies, interpretations, and practices (Beebeejaun, 2022). 

How our positionality shaped this studio project

Both authors approached this studio topic with an awareness of our positions as individuals who are not international students, yet who share the challenges of adapting to new environments with social and cultural differences. The first author Dr. Zhixi Zhuang (MCIP, RPP), as an immigrant to Canada, recognizes the privilege and authority she holds as the studio supervisor and researcher, whose own housing experiences differ significantly from those of many international students. Her perspective is shaped by a commitment to a more just planning system (Dean et. al., 2021), and she envisioned the studio as a collaborative space where students, as future planners, could learn from the lived experiences of international students, which can eventually contribute to more just and responsive urban futures, both academically and professionally. The second author Jack Krywulak, a fourth generation Canadian yet first generation university student, was drawn to the project because of his extensive experience working with international students as a residence advisor after moving from a small town in Saskatchewan to Toronto to pursue his planning degree. He approached the housing topic through the lens of equity, inclusion, and empathy, seeking to reimagine a more just housing future for everyone, including international students who have often been scapegoated in the housing crisis.

The studio project team consisted of eight domestic students and three international students, originally from China, Cambodia, and Nigeria, who contributed their lived experiences to help ground the project and recruitment outreach efforts through their cultural networks. At the start of the studio project, all team members participated in discussions of positionality and reflexivity, sharing why they were drawn to this housing project, how they positioned themselves in relation to the complex housing issues faced by international students, and what potential biases and power imbalances might influence the way the project was conducted and the data  interpreted. Students were encouraged to reflect on their intersectionality, such as gender, ethnicity, immigration status, educational background, and how these factors shaped their housing search experiences and outcomes. Having three international students at the core of our studio project helped quickly correct any misconceptions that might otherwise have been carried into the project. The Nigerian student, Bashir Maidama shared how he was unfairly treated and exploited by landlords:

“[My experience was] negative, honestly, because a lot of landlords were not willing to rent out to me. Because I was an international student, there was that sort of stereotype that I wouldn't be able to pay rent. I have a credit score but, [because of my international student status] they just don't trust, there's no trust. They [landlords] kept on demanding that I should pay a year upfront. Which is crazy, to be honest, on top of international fees. You know. All the places I have been I have to pay 6 months, 7 months or a year up front. It was a completely negative experience.”

Such lived housing experiences grounded the team in realizing the urgency of the topic and the violation of the housing rights of international students. Tomas Castillo Pelaez, an interviewed Spanish student not only echoed the housing challenges but also offered broader insights for Canadian society:

“It is particularly difficult for international students as there are additional systematic and cultural challenges associated with finding housing. This larger issue has become particularly important to me because I’ve been able to see how this interacts with the ability of international students to successfully integrate into Canada and to become productive members of society, thus, not only representing an issue for the international students themselves but for the country at large which is investing resources into their education hoping to get their return on their investment.”

The Cambodian student, Nun Nil shared how this studio project, in return, provided him with a common ground to connect with the experiences of other students, both domestic and international.

“I believe that my intersectionality gave me the opportunity to relate to many of the experiences that other international students went through. This level of understanding and shared lived experiences opened a lot of room for me to explore and share with the students who were a part of this project.”

Nun also acknowledged that his positionality could introduce bias into his conclusions on the topic, but he maintained conscious awareness of this. The project created a space where all participants met on equal footing and worked toward the shared goal of improving the lives of international students in Canada.

Implications for planning practice

Collectively, the students discussed in this blog emphasized the importance of centering the lived experiences and applying intersectional methods to create equitable, evidence-based planning solutions, as Nun and Jack eloquently articulated: 

“Lived experience and being heard are both extremely important parts of finding the solution. We cannot hope to procure a solution to such a complex problem that we do not fundamentally understand on many levels. I am also of the understanding that changes need to come from many different stakeholders. While international students may possess the voice to raise awareness, acknowledgements on everyone else’s part are also needed to come together and create long-lasting solutions.” (Nun Nil)

“Planning's interdisciplinary nature allows it to address problems from many perspectives; however, it can also overlook the levity of topics that are not often discussed. I believe that student housing (while slowly yet progressively garnering more attention) is one of those topics that has been overlooked by the profession. I would like to see the profession better recognize its indeterminate positionality towards lesser-explored topics. More specifically, I’d like to see public planners raise awareness of the dangers of exploitative landlords and work towards regulations preventing exploitative practices.” (Jack Krywulak)

The studio project highlights the importance of grounding planning practice in the lived experiences of underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, particularly international students. By combining literature review, policy analysis, semi-structural interviews, and intersectional methods engaging positionality and reflexivity, the project demonstrates that planners can develop more nuanced, evidence-based housing policy solutions that lead to a more just urban future. Planners should critically examine their own positionality, particularly on topics that have been historically overlooked, such as international student housing. Acknowledging the limits of neutral or “objective” approaches allows the profession to address nuanced social inequities more effectively.

References:

 Beebeejaun, Y. (2022). Race, Gender, and Positionality in Urban Planning Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211066167

Dean, J., Zhuang, Z. C., & Edge, S. (2021). From Classrooms to Boardrooms: Applying a multi-scale coordinated approach to an anti-racist future for the Canadian planning system. Plan Canada. Winter. 21-24.

Zhuang, Z. C. (2024). Welcoming Campus, Inclusive Community: Building Housing Infrastructure for International Students, April 10, 2024. OPPI Planning Exchange Blog. https://ontarioplanners.ca/blog/planning-exchange/april-2024/welcoming-campus,-inclusive-community-building-housing-infrastructure-for-international-students