Aarhus pulls young people from smaller Danish cities

Aarhus is attracting an increasing share of young people moving from other parts of Jutland, while smaller cities are losing students and future workers, DR reports.

About one in three young people moving from western, southern or eastern Jutland now chooses Aarhus as their new home. Statistics from Statistics Denmark show that Aarhus has attracted more young people than any other Danish city since 2010.

Catharina Victoria Petersen, 21, moved from Esbjerg to Aarhus with her boyfriend a month ago. She said there was too little happening in Esbjerg, where she was born and raised.

“Aarhus has always been the place for me. It sounds like a great place to be young. There are many other young people, too, and that creates a sense of community that attracts even more young people,” she said.

Young people follow friends and city life

Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg have long attracted young people, but the movement towards Aarhus has become particularly strong, according to Elise Stenholt Lange, a postdoctoral researcher at Aalborg University who studies migration patterns.

“Aarhus is a huge magnet. What is interesting is that the city has become an even stronger magnet. Many young people from the Jutland regions are not crossing the Great Belt as they did before. They are moving to Copenhagen less often and are now choosing Aarhus instead,” she said.

Young people from Kolding told DR that almost their entire upper-secondary school class is now in Aarhus. Lange said proximity to friends and the prospect of living in a larger city are key factors when young people move.

But the trend is also affecting educational institutions in cities including Haderslev, Hobro, Skive, Ikast and Nr. Nissum near Lemvig. The number of students in those places has fallen over the past decade.

Alexander Christian von Oettingen, rector of UC Syd, South Jutland’s largest educational institution, said the trend was making Denmark more uneven and weakening connections between regions.

“It means that we cannot recruit and train enough teachers, educators, nurses and social workers for our region. When young people move away, not all of them return. They are gone. We will lack the people needed to ensure good schools, nurseries and hospitals,” he said.

“Nothing could keep me in Esbjerg”

Petersen will begin studying psychology at Aarhus University in a few weeks. The same degree has recently been established in Esbjerg, but she wanted a new city.

She acknowledged that the trend could be a problem for cities left behind when many young people move away. But she said young people had to follow what they wanted rather than think too much about what would happen to their home city.

Asked whether Esbjerg could have done anything to persuade her to stay, she replied: “I don’t think so.”