Delhi’s student hubs: soaring rents, ageing buildings and little room to breathe
A recent building collapse in Delhi's Satya Niketan has highlighted the dangerous and cramped living conditions faced by students in the city. High rents and a lack of affordable hostel options force students into aging, unsafe buildings with poor infrastructure.
Why it matters
It draws attention to the systemic failure of urban planning and student housing affordability in major educational hubs.
The collapse of a five-storey building housing students in Satya Niketan on Sunday has brought renewed scrutiny to the cramped living spaces and the compromises students make in the absence of affordable hostel accommodation.
In Delhi’s student hubs, narrow lanes, ageing buildings pressed against each other, dangling electricity and cable wires, and rooms carved out wherever space permits have become a familiar reality. For thousands of outstation students arriving in the Capital each year, these converted houses and tightly packed buildings are often the only affordable options, with a bed in a shared room costing anywhere from ₹12,000 to over ₹24,000 a month.
Near Delhi University’s (DU) South Campus, Satya Niketan is a maze of small shops, property dealers, old buildings and newer constructions connected by uneven roads.
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