Student housing and sport: physical activity as a method for social inclusion

The paper investigates the relationship between university sports and disability. For some time now, university students, especially off-campus and international, have been expressing the need to access sports facilities during their academic years to improve their psycho-physical well-being and social inclusion. Sports venues are being transformed into areas to include people and places to generate new life experiences, also thanks to the efforts of the different Universities. Starting from the analytical results of the disciplinary debate on the role and importance of sports practice in the university environment, the paper explores the nature and degree of accessibility to Milan sports facilities for off-campus students with disabilities. Furthermore, it identifies a set of interpretative categories, capable of restoring order to the relationship between university residences and sports, through the assumption of the fifteen-minute city model based on the concept of proximity, theorized by Carlos Moreno. In addition to the above mentioned analytical results, the essay highlights the opportunity to understand university sports practice, according to a systemic vision, where accessibility becomes a lever to foster integration between universities with disabilities. It defines the opportunity to realize places that promote cultural, social, and personal integration and inclusion, at different scales. The paper suggests strategic actions, useful to define the process needed to promote the culture of accessibility for the design of these functions and spaces.