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Scores of initiatives to make Copenhagen safer

Christian Wenande
June 4th, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

108 simple initiatives to make city-dwellers more comfortable

Copenhagen Municipality has revealed over 100 simple and effective initiatives geared to improving safety in the capital.

The 108 initiatives – which have been developed based on specific proposals from the capital’s citizens – are aimed at the areas where city dwellers feel most unsafe.

“We are ready with a number of small initiatives that can increase safety in certain areas that Copenhageners have pinpointed as being unsafe,” said Morten Kabell, the city’s deputy mayor for technical and environmental issues.

“If we really want to do something to equalise the difference between the city districts, we need greater investment and long-term efforts in socially-vulnerable areas. We must generate a better city space and infrastructure, but also a social lift is required.”

READ MORE: Copenhagen residents feel safer than they did a year ago

Inner city blues
The simple initiatives include everything from better street lighting to tree trimming, while about 10 percent of the initiatives were aimed at fighting cannabis dealing.

Copenhagen is generally considered a safe place to live by its inhabitants. Just 7 percent said they felt unsafe when moving about their neighbourhoods, and the crime rate is steadily falling.

But there are still troublesome areas in the capital. A new report by the municipality showed that people felt less safe in Bispebjerg, outer Nørrebro and Brønshøj-Husum. Safety levels also fell in Christianshavn and the city centre compared to last year.

The City Police has been part of the process, evaluating the many proposals and bringing a few of its own to the table.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”