nunarsuup qeqqani

A political project
Block P, built in 1965 is considered to be the foremost symbol of the Danish colonial era in Greenland. In the 1950s and 1960s, Danish officials closed half of the nearly 200 coastal villages and moved subsistence-dependent Greenlanders into large apartment "bloks" in a massive plan to develop a modern, commercial fishing economy. Block P, the largest apartment in Nuuk held when it was finished approximately 1 percent of Greenland's population, alone.
The self government’s new housing politics includes turning down the mega structures from the sixties and seventies which are suffering from bad maintenance. At the same time there is a big demand for new apartments. Nuuk is experiencing a building boom. It is hard to overlook the consequences of these changes in the heart of the city.
With a metaphor from agriculture, we can say that the challenge is to farm and process new realities without turning the soil. The matter of concern is not only built structures and big numbers; it is social structures, lived lives, relationships, attachments and the one in the great number.

Window of opportunity
It is a political sensitive project, Strong feelings comes when we are discussing the cultural impact of the area. But it is also an opportunity to introduce a new empathically urban development. The major of Nuuk, Asii Chemnitz Narup said on our first meeting with steering committee:"I love the area we are talking about; the atmosphere is somewhat Italian, with children playing around and laundry at the balconies. My mother lived there for 25 years. "...." People love the city center, even though the distances are short; it is a barrier to move outside the city center."

In the midle of the world

Everybody’s eyes are on Greenland, the melting ice alone sets a searchlight on sustainable development in cities all over the world. In December 14th two alarming reports about climate change in the cryosphere were presented at COP 15. For the first time, leading international researchers have made an overview of snow and ice melting globally. The conclusions show that the snow-and ice-covered areas will disappear faster than previously thought. Al Goore and Jonas Gahr Støre presented the report Melting snow and ice-A call for action (made in Tromsø) and Dorte Dahl Jensen presented the report The Greenland Ice Sheet in a Changing Climate.

At the pressconference with Denmarks’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Per Stig Møller and Greenland Premier Kuupik Kleist, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, and researcher Dorte Dahl Jensen , it came up a really interesting discussion about Greenlands special position, located by the melting ice in a historical moment where they need to build up their own economy in order to get political freedom.

Kuupik Kleist stated; "Our society is lokated by the melting ice - but apart from that, we are like any other nation, we want to develop our industry and our society."