Settlement and Demography

Nearly all societies experience urbanisation and a concentration of its citizens. In a varying degree, this is a development that has taken place for over 100 years. This development has had a clear correlation with business development and the technical development, which has made it expedient to enlarge the production units. Meanwhile, the need for a human workforce has diminished in some sectors.

Especially the industry, and since the service sector, has developed in the larger towns and has to a varying degree been able to absorb the workforce that became superfluous in other sectors and regions. However, this does not mean that everyone has moved from remote to urban areas. A large part of the population still lives in remote areas and commute to work in larger towns.

This development contains perspectives that are unique to Greenland - with our climate, large distances and complicated infrastructure, where it is not possible to commute from settlement to town in connection with education or employment.

Greenland Business Association does not take a position on how the demographic devemopment should look in future Greenland. That task remains with the political decisionmakers. But we wish for the debate regarding settlements and the foundation for business development to be thoroughly elucidated.