There were three owners, or actors, involved in the redevelopment of University Square. What is particularly interesting, is that the ownership structure represented a public-private partnership. The school reported on the reconstruction two years prior to the beginning of construction, and stated that this project would “bring student services and activities under one roof as part of a private-public partnership” Alan Fish, associate vice chancellor for facilities said that, “For the University, this is a one-time opportunity to participate in a development in an ideal location for student services which is on privately owned land” Through this partnership, the University took over another piece of the city that was not associated with the school. In this way, the University claimed more of the city, making Madison increasingly focused on catering the students that occupy the city for nine months out of the year.
“ In the last decade, university architects and administrators, working with Madison’s planner, have been more purposeful. Prompted by trends in urban design that emphasize closer ties between retail stores and cultural institutions, open space, recreation and stronger neighborhoods, the university and the city developed a more definitive construction plan. ”
There is a close partnership between the University and the city of Madison, and as construction continues throughout the downtown area, it becomes increasingly evident that the to the University and students take precedence over the rest of the population in the city. University Square is a prime example, as the retail spaces cater to the needs of the college-aged kids; a coffee shop, a tanning salon, a Verizon Wireless store, and a bike shop. University Square today, as Schneider argues, is “a tour through the cultural priorities of millennial-era students.” The director of the City of Madison planning, Bradley J. Murphy, who described this area as a “stronghold of student rental housing,” said that the reconstruction changed the “character of neighborhoods east of campus.” (6) Schneider argues that, as this project “attracts a concentration of student services and new housing, developers are building high-rise rental apartments closer to campus.” (6). As more and more high rise apartment buildings are being constructed in close proximity to campus, it becomes more evident whose interests are being served and which populations are being targeted.