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This article analyses statements about the Greenlandic capital Nuuk as being "a piece of Denmark on rocks". The purpose is to show how and why Nuuk is contested and how this perspective has changed over time. Using the concept of landscape defined as a relation between the foreground (the way we are now) and background (how we could be) of social life, the article demonstrates how this perspective of the town is connected with the political development in the country. The anti-urban narrative was dominant from the late 1960s when towns were associated with "Danishness" and alienation, but it was increasingly replaced by a more inclusive and complex "Greenlandicness" from around 2000. In landscape terminology it appeared that people lived incompatible "Danish" everyday lives in towns, but dreamt about another life more in agreement with Greenlandic traditions and values. While foreground and background used to be far apart, they have come closer as the town has been appropriated as a Greenlandic landscape. Thus the status of Nuuk has changed towards increasing approval. However, Nuuk is also criticized for carrying on a Danish policy of dominance and centralizing. In this sense it is still considered "a piece of Denmark on rocks".