Few countries talk about "ghettos" the way Denmark does. For more than a decade, the term has shaped national debates about migration, integration, and who truly belongs. What began as a policy tool to identify struggling neighborhoods has evolved into a social experiment in how to manage so-called "parallel societies." These are predominantly migrant communities considered by politicians to be functioning separately from mainstream Danish life. In 2010, the then government created a "ghetto list." This list ranks public housing areas with more than 1,000 residents where unemployment levels and crime rates are higher than average. These areas are also ranked on income and education levels, along with whether more than half of the residents come from non-Western countries. Over the years, these areas have become shorthand for failed integration. Danish politicians use the list as a roadmap for intervention: tearing down apartment blocks, forcing long-term tenants to relocate. The goal, they say, is to "mix" populations and prevent segregation. While the government replaced the official term "ghettomrader"(ghetto areas) with "parallelsamfoundsomrader" (parallel-society areas) in 2021 to reduce stigma, the criteria and policies affecting these neighborhoods have largely stayed the same. For anyone outside Denmark, this language of "the ghetto" or "parallel societies" can sound unsettling. In most European countries, the word still evokes a dark past. From medieval Jewish quarters to the Nazi-era ghettos where Jews were confined before being deported to death camps—the word "ghetto" has such a complex history. Modern housing estates were once a point of pride in the Danish welfare model—clean, affordable, and surrounded by green space. So why use such a charged term to describe them? This question merits deeper scrutiny.