Key policies

Copenhagen is a community made up of everyone from kindergarten teachers to students, lawyers, families, artists and retirees. This mix makes Copenhagen unique, and its diversity is essential for the city’s functioning community.

For me, both large and small communities are vital to our well-being. From the larger community in Denmark to the camaraderie in the changing rooms at Valby IdrætsPark.

A well-functioning Copenhagen is a city where ordinary wage earners can live, where all children can receive a solid basic education, and where every citizen has the opportunity to participate in community life. That is what makes Copenhagen such a wonderful place to build your life.

This is why I will fight for affordable housing for people with ordinary incomes, strong public schools, and a community life that is open to everyone. These things are interconnected, and they are essential for Copenhagen.

An affordable home for ordinary wage earners is crucial for ensuring that we have skilled teachers in our primary schools, competent healthcare professionals in our hospitals, and capable police officers on our streets in Copenhagen. The housing market in Copenhagen has become a closed land for many, and this impacts the city’s welfare to the detriment of everyone. I want to preserve a capital where those who contribute to the city can live in the city.

The housing market in Copenhagen has become a closed land for many, and this impacts the city’s welfare to the detriment of everyone. I want to preserve a capital where those who contribute to the city can live in the city.

For if a kindergarten teacher cannot live in Copenhagen, it is difficult for them to work in Copenhagen. The same goes for teachers and nurses. And if we don’t have enough kindergarten teachers, we won’t have enough daycare spots for the city’s citizens. It’s as simple as that.

The challenges of the housing market are connected to welfare as well as our work and family lives, and these challenges cannot be solved by market forces alone. They require political solutions aimed at both the present and the future.

My specific proposals are:

Housing support for critical welfare personnel

First, critical welfare personnel should receive municipal housing support if they live and work in the Municipality of Copenhagen.

We cannot wait for newly built public housing to be completed. The welfare challenges are here now, and it requires action now. Therefore, the personnel group that is in shortage should be eligible for municipal housing support.

The housing support should be subject to regular and critical review to ensure that the funds are used for groups that the city is lacking.

The municipality’s purchase of existing properties

Second, the Municipality of Copenhagen should actively purchase existing properties from private landlords and rent them with an option for the municipality to buy them in the future.

The purchase can be done through leasing agreements. Private landlords get guaranteed income, young families and ordinary wage earners get the opportunity to remain in the city if they wish, and Copenhagen’s diversity is kept alive, while the municipality acquires an asset at its disposal.

New construction with consideration and a new housing balance

Third, we need to build wisely and thoughtfully. We should not construct rows of prefab buildings without regard for green spaces, but neither should we unnecessarily hinder healthy and quality construction that benefits everyone. We need to do it smartly and not hastily.

Currently, new construction in Copenhagen must as a main rule include 20% affordable housing. Which is good. However, it is not mandatory to build the 20% simultaneously with the rest of the property. This needs to change.

Furthermore, every new development should include regular condos in family sizes, so that the supply in the market increases over time. I use the word ‘condos’ to describe apartments owned by the person living in it. 

Finally, the number of private rental properties should be significantly limited. In connection with this, municipal politicians should also draw the attention of the Folketing (the Danish Parliament) to the need for a revision of the rent-setting regulations for private rental properties.

The housing market consists of condos, public housing, cooperative housing, and private rental homes. The correct composition of these is what should provide housing opportunities for the many.”

The public primary school education has never been more important. It is in primary school that children lay the foundation for their lives as adults, no matter who or what they aspire to become. That is why we must have a strong primary school system to provide Copenhagen’s children the best possible start in life.

Not all children have parents with the time or resources to help them learn to read, write, and do math.

Therefore, it is crucial for our equal opportunities that primary schools can provide all children with the tools they need to create the future they desire, whether it involves pursuing an academic career, becoming a skilled worker, or wishing for something else.

The core tasks of primary school

Primary school is our introduction to obligations and rights within communities. It is here that we, as individuals, learn to be considerate by engaging in a group with different opinions, attitudes, and appearances. The ability to navigate in a community and in society begins in primary school.

It is also during primary school that one experiences their first setbacks: poor grades, loneliness, heartbreak, the divorce of parents, or whatever it may be. It is the first time for all of the challenges that one will face throughout life. It is in primary school that we must learn to handle our setbacks and develop inner resilience, which will help us through life’s storms.

Basic education, community, and resilience. To me, these are the core building blocks of every citizen in a democratic society, and it is our primary schools’ role to help secure them.

Balance among students and teachers with housing

To achieve this, we must ensure a balanced student composition. Furthermore, primary schools should have more freedom with responsibility to organize themselves as they see fit. 

Finally, Copenhagen must ensure that primary schools with students facing particular socio-economic challenges receive extra support to set up special classes—both for the benefit of the challenged students, who should not feel less valuable, but also for the benefit of the other students in the class, whose learning should not be disrupted.

The most crucial factor is that primary schools have happy and competent teachers to educate and teach the city’s children. A prerequisite for this is that primary school teachers can afford to live in the city without having to stretch every penny.

Since I was 5 years old, I have been a member of a football club. The locker room, the camaraderie, the friendships, and the independence! The best was to be away with my team on a trip, away from my parents, only responsible for myself and my team. I love community life and associations and have great respect for the efforts of volunteers for the city and for association life.

I believe that community life and associations are the best places for personal development and character building. That is why I have also been a coach and a board member in my current football club.

It is incredibly unfortunate that all sports clubs in Copenhagen have long waiting lists. There is either not enough space on the fields or in the halls, insufficient resources for materials, or not enough staff/volunteers to accommodate more members.

We need to do something about this. Copenhagen needs a strong community life for children, young people, and adults of all ages.

Associations is the cure for common dissatisfaction

Not only is it good for one’s development early in life, but the sense of community in associations also helps shape and support you as a young person. As part of a community, you have value.

This is also true as an adult, where the locker room can provide a break from worries or a forum to share them. As you grow older, community life helps keep the system running, the mind sharp and prevents loneliness.

As I see it, community life is the best cure for common dissatisfaction, and this applies to all age groups. 

That’s why we must also create a better connection between public institutions and community life, so that for instance children and young people can get help with their concerns through it, instead of entering a municipal treatment program with a psychiatrist that is both costly and, in many ways, reinforces the idea that something is wrong with them if they are feeling down. Or the municipality should establish a connection between the libraries and elderly homes to create a reading club for the elderly.

Community life must be strengthened. This should happen by integrating it into the planning when new areas of the city are developed: Local plans must require that new constructions be connected to an indoor hall.

Additionally, existing sports facilities should be provided with funding to install artificial turf for football and maintain swimming pools and indoor halls.

Communities of all sorts

However, community life is not only about sports. We must strengthen the collaboration between municipal efforts and the good work of civil society.

The municipal administration is – and must be – bound by rules to ensure the basic operation and facilities of the city goes to plan. 

But this fixation sometimes make it difficult to think outside the box and create the best conditions for associations in art, music, literature, or other areas that don’t quite fit on an artificial grass pitch.

Civil society can create spaces for communities that can help citizens who, for one reason or another, don’t quite fit in. Whether it’s the homeless person who gets a job as a local guide on Vesterbro through the association Gadens Stemmer, or the budding musician from the block who gets their debut in a studio provided by an organization like Fishtank in cooperation with the municipality.

We should not be afraid to use the many great forces of civil society. But we must be mindful when we do so, because after all, a strong Copenhagen with a community for all is the responsibility of municipal politicians.