Resilient university campus in the city in COVID and post‑COVID era—recommendations, guidelines, and evidence from research in Italy and Poland

The pandemic ‘stay at home’ obligations turned our homes from a place to live to a place to live, work, entertain ourselves and to study. Since March 2020, confinement has had a permanent impact on students’ perception of studying and on academic lifestyle. Most universities continue teaching online, and most academic facilities, such as lecture and seminar halls, student halls, and dormitories, have been abandoned. Some of them form vast areas in cities that play a major role in the urban structure. The authors have examined the degree and way of occupation of the academic infrastructure before and in time of the pandemic. Evidence and data have been gathered from different universities in Poland and Italy. From their origins, academic campuses can be considered autonomous communities within or on the city limits. In a post-pandemic perspective, the evidence shows that the growing population of students does not mean campus development and that the campuses that have shown the greatest resilience are “open” campuses which are able to share, integrate, and exchange their spaces and facilities with those of the city. The authors conclude that the pandemic will have an impact on the future urban form of academic facilities.