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Most Danish streets named after men
Christian Wenande
August 31st, 2015
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This article is more than 9 years old.
Copenhagen and Aarhus: where the streets have his name
Deputy mayor Morten Kabell wants less HC Andersen and more Karen Blixens (photo: www.visithcandersen.dk)
Denmark might be a pioneering nation in terms of equality between men and women, but you wouldn’t think so by looking at their street names.
According to Metroxpress newspaper, more than 80 percent of the streets in Copenhagen, and 90 percent in Aarhus, are named after a historic or famous person who bears a man’s name.
“A city map filled with male names implies it is only men who are worthy. That’s a crazy and archaic mentality that we want to get rid of,” Morten Kabell, the deputy mayor for technical issues in Copenhagen, told Metroxpress.
“We have a ratification in the citizen representation [Borgerrepræsentationen] that the split should be 50-50.”
READ MORE: Council considering lesbian compromise for city square name
Where the streets have his name
Since 2005, the percentage of roads named after women has been 47 percent, compared to 53 percent named after men.
But there’s a long way to go to get to 50-50.
Out of Copenhagen’s 291 ‘person-name roads’, 248 are currently named after men, while 213 out of 231 are named after men in Aarhus.
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