The Arctic mining city that moved itself — 3km east, house by house, because the iron ore beneath was worth more than the street grid
Kiruna is one of the world's most extraordinary urban stories: Sweden's northernmost city, high above the Arctic Circle, has been physically relocated 3km to the east because the LKAB iron ore mine beneath the original city has subsided the ground to the point of danger. Since 2004, Kiruna's buildings — including the famous 1963 city hall, its 1909 church (voted Sweden's most beautiful building in a 2001 survey), and thousands of homes — have been dismantled, moved, or rebuilt at Kiruna 4-ever, a new planned city centre. Simultaneously, Kiruna produces 90% of Europe's iron ore and is home to…
Kiruna was founded in 1900 as a company town for LKAB's iron ore mine, which had been discovered in 1878 but required a railway before exploitation was viable. The Malmbanan railway, connecting Luleå to Narvik (Norway) via Kiruna, was completed in 1902 and transformed the landscape of Swedish Lapland. The city grew rapidly under LKAB management, developing into a planned model town with unusual public amenities by Swedish standards. The discovery in the late 20th century that underground mining had created deformation zones threatening the surface city led to the decision in 2004 to relocate.…