Denmark limits the number of ‘non-Western’ residents in neighbourhoods

In an attempt to promote integration and prevent the emergence of parallel societies, Denmark has placed a cap on the percentage of ‘non-Western’ residents in housing areas

The Ministry of the Interior and Housing in Denmark has announced a new initiative to prevent parallel societies from emerging. A parallel society is defined as one that is organised by an ethnic or religious minority with the intent of limiting social, cultural, and spatial contact with the rest of the country’s residents.

Denmark has now declared that it will work to prevent the creation of these societies by establishing mixed housing areas in order to facilitate integration. More specifically, the government announced that in 10 years’ time, residents with ‘non-Western’ backgrounds must make up a maximum of 30% in all housing areas in the country.

In a press release on the Ministry’s website, the Minister of the Interior and Housing Kaare Dybvad Bek discussed this new bill: “For far too many years, we have closed our eyes to the development that was underway, and only acted when the integration problems became too great.

Now we want to make sure that we do not once again stick our heads in the bush while new parallel societies emerge. We will do this by preventing more vulnerable housing areas and by creating more mixed housing areas throughout Denmark.”

Mixed responses

While some have branded this new initiative as a “racist” idea, Bek argues that it is meant to promote integration and make life easier for the ‘non-Western’ residents. “For us, it is about helping the residents and creating equal opportunities for all children, regardless of where they grow up in Denmark,” he disclosed.

Bek further discussed this on his Facebook profile, writing that he is aware people will have strong and contrasting feelings. Nevertheless, he noted that he believes it is crucial for everyone to connect and interact, despite their differences.

Concluding his Facebook post, Bek wrote that he does not want Denmark to become a place where people live divided and separated solely because of their backgrounds: “Here in the country we live together and create our society, together.”