The novel coronavirus is affecting Nordic cities and disrupting normal working practices and conditions. Some cities are currently hit harder than others and must set their priorities accordingly in order to respond to the health crisis at hand, while reallocating resources and capacity from other departments. Clear patterns or significant changes within extremist influences and hate crimes in the Nordic cities are not yet evident, but there is evidence that the fear and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus is already being used to spread misinformation and accelerate anti-Semitic, xenophobic and racist messages in online forums around the world. Here it is further appropriated to promote distrust in ‘failing politicians’ and the idea that liberal democracies cannot cope with such a crisis.

Given the likely economic repercussions of the pandemic, Nordic cities may soon need to tackle the consequences of increased unemployment and financial anxiety with people worried about paying their bills and taking care of their families. A real as well as a perceived rise in socio-economic disparity and scarcity of resources could further intensify a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ and refuel the xenophobic and extremist sentiments that were awakened by the refugee crisis in 2015.

Changes and Challenges in 6-7 weeks of coronavirus lockdown

Nordic cities generally report a decrease in registered crimes with few outliers related to property damage and drug dealing, and no evident increases in reports of concerning behaviour or radicalisation, hate crimes or extremist movements on the streets. Some extremist groups who usually have a high street presence through marches and protests have moved their activities online, where a spike in recruitment has been noticed in certain areas. In the Nordics as well as the UK and US, there has been media coverage of minorities and immigrant groups falling ill with Covid-19 at a relatively higher rate than the majority population. Cities are attentive to how this may be misinterpreted and used by extremist movements to spread disinformation on social media in order to cause polarisation and hate towards certain minority groups as spreaders of the coronavirus.

Nordic cities are seeing decreases or no significant changes in calls related to physical and psychological abuse and referrals to child welfare services. The cities find this somewhat worrisome as most cities estimate that conflict and violence increase in stressful times, and those who need help may not be able to reach out currently. Cities may therefore need to prepare for a surge in calls and referrals when home isolation is lessened, and children and young people are back in school.

Our Safe City Actions

A Good Summer 2020

The summer is quickly approaching and with it many Nordic festivities and a new generation of high school graduates, who usually spend most of the summer celebrating. Cities are thinking about how to ensure that their citizens continue to follow the guidelines and safely social distance in the summer months. Summer holidays, when many families usually travel and young people go to festivals and spend their days outside with friends, will present challenges for all the Nordic cities. Additionally, more families and young people will be unemployed and under financial strain this summer, which may also lead to increased social issues in the cities.

The Nordic Safe Cities Alliance is exploring how cities can give the younger generation a good and safe summer experience despite Covid-19, as well as supporting those who are most vulnerable and are being hit the hardest by this crisis, but who also may have the hardest time following guidelines.

A Look to the Future

Many Nordic cities went into strict lock-down and are now trying to figure out how to best and most safely open society again in a manner that supports the economy while protecting people’s health. With our member cities, we are contemplating how the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis can lead to improved prevention strategies and approaches in the near future. This may be a golden opportunity to reach out to marginalised groups, not as potential incubators of extremism, but as citizens to be offered important help to counter a common problem, e.g. coronavirus misinformation and health education, to help build trust. We can already foresee long-term effects of the coronavirus lockdown, with socio-economically challenged groups especially at risk. We will continue to work with cities to help them protect their most vulnerable communities throughout this crisis and beyond it.