Students’ leisure consumption patterns in cities: Three-dimensional pictures from Lodz and Turin

Abstract

The research conducted relates to university students’ leisure practices in urban settings. A three-dimensional framework to picture and analyse students’ leisure, focusing on its temporal, economic and spatial dimensions, is proposed. The analysis is based on empirical evidence from two European cities, namely Lodz, Poland and Turin, Italy. First, the findings show that students’ leisure consumption goes beyond visiting music and disco clubs, and it is oriented towards meeting at home, visiting pubs and cafés, and also shopping for non-daily products. Secondly, the geographies of the majority of students’ leisure activities do not spatially overlap with the places of their education and accommodation. Thirdly, the data obtained on students’ leisure consumption in Lodz and Turin reveal many similarities, despite the contextual differences between the two cities.