Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland
Visible homelessness is on the rise in Nuuk, Greenland. Since the early 2000s, the number of people staying at the municipal shelter, accessing support programs, and registering as homeless in the community has, by a qualitative estimate grown. Attention has also been given to the growing number of...
Published in: | International Journal on Homelessness |
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Western Libraries, The University of Western Ontario
2024
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.14324 https://doaj.org/article/c5e13209457f4df29b0b18b40e76d62d |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c5e13209457f4df29b0b18b40e76d62d 2024-09-30T14:35:39+00:00 Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland Julia Christensen Steven Arnfjord Marie-Louise Aastrup Eleanor Stephenson 2024-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.14324 https://doaj.org/article/c5e13209457f4df29b0b18b40e76d62d EN ES FR JA PT eng spa fre jpn por Western Libraries, The University of Western Ontario https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/14324 https://doaj.org/toc/2564-310X 2564-310X doi:10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.14324 https://doaj.org/article/c5e13209457f4df29b0b18b40e76d62d International Journal on Homelessness, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 69-86 (2024) homelessness greenland inuit centralization urbanization welfare colonialism Societies: secret benevolent etc HS1-3371 Communities. Classes. Races HT51-1595 Sociology (General) HM401-1281 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.14324 2024-09-17T16:00:44Z Visible homelessness is on the rise in Nuuk, Greenland. Since the early 2000s, the number of people staying at the municipal shelter, accessing support programs, and registering as homeless in the community has, by a qualitative estimate grown. Attention has also been given to the growing number of Greenlanders living homeless in Danish cities. However, the literature on Greenlandic homelessness remains sparse, and very little literature conceptualizes homelessness in Greenland within its specific geographical, cultural, or social context. To better understand the emergence of visible homelessness, this article explores the social dimensions of homelessness and asks how homelessness can be understood within the dynamics of urbanization in Greenland. Drawing on four years of participant observation in Nuuk with homelessness outreach organizations, and 20 in-depth interviews with both service providers and men and women experiencing homelessness, and four lived experience focus groups, we find that the emergence of homelessness in Greenland is part and parcel of a trajectory of welfare colonialism, resettlement, and contemporary urbanization. We highlight four specific policy issues: 1) an existing housing stock in Nuuk inappropriate for diverse needs; 2) urbanization in the absence of a national housing or homelessness strategy; 3) a lack of integrated supports and reliance on the non-profit sector; 4) and an increasingly punitive approach to managing the limited housing supply. Stepping back, we argue that the emergence of visible northern homelessness is an important lens through which to understand the dynamics of northern urbanization, social marginalization and exclusion, and the continuation of colonial relations in the era of self-governance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland greenlander* greenlandic inuit Nuuk Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Nuuk ENVELOPE(-52.150,-52.150,68.717,68.717) International Journal on Homelessness 4 1 69 86 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Spanish French Japanese Portuguese |
topic |
homelessness greenland inuit centralization urbanization welfare colonialism Societies: secret benevolent etc HS1-3371 Communities. Classes. Races HT51-1595 Sociology (General) HM401-1281 |
spellingShingle |
homelessness greenland inuit centralization urbanization welfare colonialism Societies: secret benevolent etc HS1-3371 Communities. Classes. Races HT51-1595 Sociology (General) HM401-1281 Julia Christensen Steven Arnfjord Marie-Louise Aastrup Eleanor Stephenson Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland |
topic_facet |
homelessness greenland inuit centralization urbanization welfare colonialism Societies: secret benevolent etc HS1-3371 Communities. Classes. Races HT51-1595 Sociology (General) HM401-1281 |
description |
Visible homelessness is on the rise in Nuuk, Greenland. Since the early 2000s, the number of people staying at the municipal shelter, accessing support programs, and registering as homeless in the community has, by a qualitative estimate grown. Attention has also been given to the growing number of Greenlanders living homeless in Danish cities. However, the literature on Greenlandic homelessness remains sparse, and very little literature conceptualizes homelessness in Greenland within its specific geographical, cultural, or social context. To better understand the emergence of visible homelessness, this article explores the social dimensions of homelessness and asks how homelessness can be understood within the dynamics of urbanization in Greenland. Drawing on four years of participant observation in Nuuk with homelessness outreach organizations, and 20 in-depth interviews with both service providers and men and women experiencing homelessness, and four lived experience focus groups, we find that the emergence of homelessness in Greenland is part and parcel of a trajectory of welfare colonialism, resettlement, and contemporary urbanization. We highlight four specific policy issues: 1) an existing housing stock in Nuuk inappropriate for diverse needs; 2) urbanization in the absence of a national housing or homelessness strategy; 3) a lack of integrated supports and reliance on the non-profit sector; 4) and an increasingly punitive approach to managing the limited housing supply. Stepping back, we argue that the emergence of visible northern homelessness is an important lens through which to understand the dynamics of northern urbanization, social marginalization and exclusion, and the continuation of colonial relations in the era of self-governance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Julia Christensen Steven Arnfjord Marie-Louise Aastrup Eleanor Stephenson |
author_facet |
Julia Christensen Steven Arnfjord Marie-Louise Aastrup Eleanor Stephenson |
author_sort |
Julia Christensen |
title |
Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland |
title_short |
Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland |
title_full |
Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland |
title_sort |
housing policy, urbanization, and the production of homelessness in greenland |
publisher |
Western Libraries, The University of Western Ontario |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.14324 https://doaj.org/article/c5e13209457f4df29b0b18b40e76d62d |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-52.150,-52.150,68.717,68.717) |
geographic |
Greenland Nuuk |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Nuuk |
genre |
Greenland greenlander* greenlandic inuit Nuuk |
genre_facet |
Greenland greenlander* greenlandic inuit Nuuk |
op_source |
International Journal on Homelessness, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 69-86 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/14324 https://doaj.org/toc/2564-310X 2564-310X doi:10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.14324 https://doaj.org/article/c5e13209457f4df29b0b18b40e76d62d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.14324 |
container_title |
International Journal on Homelessness |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
69 |
op_container_end_page |
86 |
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1811638914669084672 |