“Away from the Edge” is a publication aimed at municipalities, area renewals and master plans that work with or are affected by young men in groups in vulnerable residential areas.
The project focuses directly on the groups of young men, mainly from other ethnic backgrounds, who are highly visible in vulnerable neighborhoods and who self-inflicted or involuntarily create insecurity in the local area through attitude, behavior, myths and/or misconceptions. The publication contains a model for how actors in vulnerable neighborhoods across sectors can work together to create constructive and safe conditions for everyone. The publication also presents background knowledge about the young men and a number of inspiring cases.
Download the publication (in Danish)
More about the project:
Excerpt from Away from the Edge (chapter 1, own translation, the publication is in Danish)
People were uncomfortable with us standing in the center. There were often 10-20 of us.
We weren't there to bother people, but we could see that we were bothering people.
We've been hanging out in the mall for generations because we have nowhere else to be.
This is how a young man in his early 20s describes how the local center formed a community among a group of young people in a vulnerable residential area in Nivå. The story is a familiar one. Young boys and men with an ethnic background other than Danish gather in groups on a street corner, at the local pizzeria, in a shelter or in the parking lot. Dressed in hoodies and with an aggressive attitude. They are often the children of large families living in small apartments and they are bored - feeling excluded and looking for a community outside the home. Many of them feel like shit. The worst off feel excluded, marginalized and without opportunities to integrate into mainstream society through education and jobs, which is only exacerbated by poor schooling, poor language skills, blemished criminal records and drug abuse.
Studies from both the Police's Safety Index and the Center for Housing and Social Development establish that young men in groups constitute a significant insecurity factor among residents in vulnerable residential areas. Insecurity is exacerbated by young people's reckless behavior, neighborhood problems, theft and burglary - and in 24 out of 26 particularly vulnerable residential areas, residents are more insecure than those in the surrounding city.
It's not just the residents who can feel unsafe. Young men are often a challenge and difficult to work with for the municipality's and the master plan's frontline staff, who work on a daily basis to improve the housing area physically and socially. Stories of the young men's criminal behavior abound, and the young men's tough attitude can mean that employees are unsafe and don't know how to approach them. The visibility of young people on the streets has become a symbol of crime and gang activity - whether they are selling weed, showing that they care about the area, working or studying.
The conditions in vulnerable neighborhoods confirm that there is a lack of knowledge about who these young men are, how to get in touch with them, and how they can be part of a constructive context in the city and in their neighborhood.
The main purpose of this report, which we have chosen to call In from the edge - Urban development that lifts young men in groups in vulnerable neighborhoods, is
to contribute to constructive development among young men in disadvantaged neighborhoods - and to create greater security for all those who live in these areas. The report focuses on how professionals in municipalities and housing associations can work with and involve young people - with the help of increased knowledge and new tools.
If professionals become better at creating constructive development among young people in vulnerable neighborhoods, the benefits are enormous. First and foremost, it will give the employees of area regeneration, municipalities and housing companies far better conditions for creating safe and well-functioning cities and neighborhoods for everyone. Secondly, young people will have the opportunity to develop as people and in group contexts - potentially moving from a destructive to a constructive role in the local area. Last but not least, society will save large sums of money in cases where the development leads to young people having an increased connection to education and the labor market.
On the other hand, if conditions do not improve, it can have disastrous consequences for the neighborhood, the other residents, the area's businesses, the professionals and ultimately society. For example, a newly renovated park is worthless if the unsafe young people take it over; shops and businesses risk closing or staying away; the young people themselves are trapped in non-constructive life situations; society misses out on the young people's contribution to the state coffers and, in the worst case, incurs costs related to abuse, crime and social welfare.
It is our hope that this publication can inspire professionals in municipalities and housing associations to work together with young people on an informed basis. The problem of young people in deprived areas is complex and difficult to solve alone. But together, under a common strategy and with well-considered involvement and relationship-building tools, even the most hopeless situation in a disadvantaged neighborhood can be transformed to create a safe and constructive environment - for the young people and for everyone else.
Happy reading!
Kenneth Balfelt Team