early intervention among at-risk young people aged between Working together with civil society is a core element in delivery seventeen and twenty-four to ensure they transition into of services. For example, the Danish Red Cross helps senior adulthood smoothly. This work is done in close cooperation with citizens with their shopping, in cooperation with associations education counselors, job centers, and other relevant partners, for the elderly. Opportunities for seniors to socialize with one and always with a focus on the young person’s needs. another are also organized. Moreover,so e inovations are being implemented in the building of care centers so that 5.3 Lifelong opportunities the physical environment supplies a homely and friendly atmosphere (collective forums, access to digital facilities) and According to the OECD, Denmark is among the best places to offers more social interactions and collective activities. This be when it comes to work-life balance (Denmark.dk Website, illustrates the city’s efforts to reduce loneliness among the 2020): elderly. •Only 2 percent of employees feel that they work very long hours; the average among OECD countries is around 13 5.4 Businesses opportunities percent; •On average, 66 percent of a full-time worker’s day is devoted Across several industries, and particularly in the area of to personal care and leisure; the OECD average is around renewable energy, Denmark is the home of some of the world’s 62 percent; leading companies. More than forty years of ambitious energy •Danish women have better career opportunities: 72 percent policy have helped the country to be at the forefront of the of Danish women have paid jobs outside the home, whereas “cleantech” that will be critical to combating climate change. the average for the OECD is 59 percent. The global trend toward adopting renewables has helped to stimulate a green growth model in the country (Green Growth This high quality of work-life balance is strongly reinforced by in Copenhagen, 2011). the city’s focus on ensuring its citizens enjoy lifelong learning through amenities such as adult education centers, cultural Between 2011 and 2020, Copenhagen had the target of creating institutions, and public libraries. around twenty thousand new jobs in the private sector (Green Growth in Copenhagen, 2011). The World Bank has ranked Education in Denmark does not stop with graduation: at any Denmark number one in Europe (and fourth in the world) in given time, one in three Danish adults aged between twenty-five its 2020 Ease of Doing Business Index (Copenhagen Capacity and sixty-four will be taking some form of continuing education Website, 2020), reinforcing this objective. course (Denmark.dk Website, 2020). Most Danish workplaces pay for their employees’ additional training, and there are also The green sector already employs twenty-five thousand people public and private providers of classes that teach business and across six thousand companies in Copenhagen (Green Growth professional skills. Unemployed people in Denmark are often in Copenhagen, 2011). Indeed, green growth has been defined required to take courses to prepare them to return to the job as the central strategy for Copenhagen, partly because it is market. a competitive sector with labor productivity that is 40 percent higher than that of the traditional economy (Green Growth Denmark’s levels of public and private investment in developing in Copenhagen, 2011). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the new qualifications and skills are among the highest in Europe. average yearly growth in productivity for Copenhagen’s green The main idea is to maintain a highly qualified and well- sector was around 8 percent (Green Growth in Copenhagen, educated workforce that can succeed in a global knowledge 2011). economy. In recent years, Copenhagen has increasingly been prioritizing In Copenhagen, senior citizens are encouraged to continue making business development that is consistent with the UN’s SDGs. their own choices about the lives they live, and they are able to Through its business and economic growth policy, the city receive training to help them to acquire new skills. The City Council focuses on six different areas to support the city’s ambitious has put in place a rehabilitative plan, Senior Citizen Policy, under policy aiming to fulfill the SDGs. These six areas are: which programs are offered to all senior citizens to improve their • Ensuring sustainable urban development and the quality of life. The policy’s emphasis on active citizenship ensures attractiveness of the city to businesses and investors; that the city focuses on preventing and reducing loneliness among • Strengthening the municipality’s business services and the elderly (Denmark.dk Website, 2020). reducing municipality-related costs for businesses; 131 Quélin and Smadja | HEC PARIS | SMART CITIES | The sustainable program of six leading cities | 2021