Student town

As there is no proper definition of a student town, it is generally taken to refer to university towns or cities, places, anyhow, where students have flats or share houses and where they indulge in student life well into the wee hours of the night. Tilburg, with its roots in village life and textile industries, was known as a somewhat unrefined and informal industrial town that, once a year, happens to stage the biggest fair in all of the Benelux. This changes rapidly, due - among other things - to the expansion of the student's population.

Tilburg University Cantus, every year in september

Town and gown

Tilburg is a town where students have more of an impact than many people think. In 2019, about 34,000 students were enrolled in the three institutions for higher education, nearly 17,000 of whom were living in student accommodation, making up eight percent of the urban population. In the first decades after the University’s foundation, it was the members of TSC St Olof who stood out with their noisy parties at fraternity headquarters, raucous drives through the town center or boisterous participation in carnival parades. All this was set to change in the sixties, when student numbers rose, as did the percentage of students that declined to be members of any student association: the so-called nihilists. This change then led to other changes in student life. The number of student bars went up, for instance, and students started to meddle with the town: they started to oppose, for instance, the numerous demolition schemes of the then municipal authorities and began to squat in vacant premises, such as the old Tilburg Savings Bank (at the pentagon near Tuinstraat) and the Verbunt Wine Warehouse (Langestraat), which have been preserved thanks to squatters.

Participation

Students were also concerned about the fate of Tilburg citizens who required legal assistance. In 1969, this then led to the foundation of the first free Legal Aid Center in the Netherlands, which is still in existence and still largely driven by student involvement. Tilburg citizens who had trouble preparing their tax returns were assisted on annual Tax Return Day, an initiative by Smeetskring students in the seventies and surviving up to the present day. In 2009, Serve the City Tilburg was founded, hoping that “if we join forces, we can make a difference for Tilburg. It is our dream that, at the end of their student life, each student has contributed to making Tilburg a better place and continues to do so after graduation.” A student council was established as an advisory body to the town council, and students are now one of the four groups targeted by Tilburg city marketing efforts.

The pentagon area, downtown

Appreciation

Countless surveys show that Tilburg is greatly appreciated by students, for its ample supply of student accommodation, for its infinite number of student bars and for its wide artistic and cultural offerings, including several student events. Tilburg may never be the belle of the ball, but to many she represents love at second sight.

Talent Square, housing for international students

The appreciation grew when the city government decided to re-use old industrial areas such as Spoorzone (railway area) and Piushaven (former industial harbour). With a large number of monumental buildings and new elements like unusual bridges the citycentre is more and more attractive, also to students. One of their favourite places is the Lochal, the public library in a former railway factory. It's the perfect spot to study, both on line and off line.