DENMARK - Best City for Quality of Life
Copenhagen has topped media outlet Monocle’s list of the world’s best cities for quality of life, the fourth time Denmark’s capital has won the honor since the survey began in 2007.
Zurich, Helsinki, Stockholm and Tokyo rounded out the top five as Monocle resumed its rankings after a one-year hiatus as the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
“Copenhagen is one of those cities where there is a real ambition to deliver a better quality of life for everyone,” said Monocle’s editor in chief, Andrew Tuck.
“The ambitions around creating a cleaner environment are best in class and the city is reaping the rewards of years of urban investment.”
This year’s report sought to gauge which cities have used the past months “to build back better; defend their economies, cultural scenes and high streets; and to press ahead with projects to ensure that transport works and parks are tended but also that a sense of civic pride is promoted,” it said.
It also put greater emphasis on civic leadership, good housing policies and programs to support entrepreneurs.
-www.reuters.com, 24 June 2021
Arno's Commentary
Denmark, a country of under 6 million population, religiously belongs to the Lutheran Church by almost 75%, with 5.5% Muslim. Life expectancy stands at 81.7 years, and per capita GDP is $55,900.
What’s special about Denmark? For one thing, their capital city, Copenhagen, has been a four-time world champion since 2007 when it comes to quality of life. Denmark is part of the European Union but does not use the euro currency. The country is a peninsula surrounded by the Baltic and North Sea, with a land border with Germany for about 140 kilometers. The nation functions on the European social-capital model, with education and healthcare being universal and equally applied to all. The nation is governed by a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
We take interest in the fact that 5.5% of the population is Muslim, consisting mainly of immigrants from the Middle East. Yet, contrary to popular belief, this did not increase crime; the opposite is self-evident by reliable crime statistics. For example, based on the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs: “U.S. crime rates for the three violent crimes (homicide, rape, robbery) were several times higher than the averages for reporting European countries. The U.S. homicide rate was 10.5-7.9 per 100,000 population compared to Europe’s less than 2 per 100,000.”
Why so? Government social networks are successful in reducing poverty, which is the main driver when it comes to crime. Although crime rates have gone down for the last two decades, particularly in Western countries, it has not been eradicated. Is such a goal at all possible? We believe not under normal circumstances. Crime-fighting is being assisted by today’s high-tech tools, and thus crime is expected to go down, but not altogether.
Israel received this conditional promise: “Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it: Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day” (Deuteronomy 15:4-5).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
