Housing Policy, Urbanization, and the Production of Homelessness in Greenland

Abstract

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.