Urban Prosperity and Rural Strain: The Importance of Location and Ownership for the Impact of Housing Crises in Denmark
摘要
The last two decades have brought several societal crises to Denmark, affecting the housing market in different ways and to different degrees. First the financial crisis, then the COVID-19 pandemic and, most recently, increasing inflation and energy prices, partly due to the war in Ukraine. This chapter focuses on the recent decades of development of housing in Denmark and the consequences of these crises. The chapter highlights how location (rural/urban) and housing tenure (tenant/owner) influence how crises are experienced and can be dealt with by households. The Danish housing market is made up of four very different sectors: owner-occupied housing, cooperatives, private rental housing and non-profit rental housing. The crises have affected the sectors and their inhabitants differently with a key dividing line between tenants and owners. However, the sectors also contain substantial internal differences, not least depending on location in relation to an urban–rural divide. The major cities are soaring in demand and price levels, whereas rural locations are struggling with vacancies and lack of investments. The public discourse in Denmark speaks of a risk of the country breaking into two. In the housing market, this unfortunately seems like a realistic risk.