Just listening. They have also proposed a “Kiruna Portal”, a kind of mass salvage yard, where materials from the doomed homes can be brought and hopefully recycled in the construction of the new buildings – although given that Sweden has no tradition of self-build, it’s hard to see this taking off.A closer look at the plan shows the new town bears little relation to the original Kiruna at all. And demand continues to rise.In 2004, the mining company broke it to the town that its days were numbered: digging its shafts towards the city at an angle of 60 degrees, subsidence would soon lead to buildings’ widespread cracking and collapse. "What we have done correctly, is that we started with a dialogue," said Cars. "The challenge for the city is not only about moving an entire city, but also moving the minds of citizens and creating a new home and identity," said the Henning Larsen team. “It’s things like that – the hospital where your first child was born – that are important to people’s sense of identity, and all that’s going to disappear.”Billed as “the most democratic move in history”, the project has been allocated 3.74bn Swedish kronor (£320m) by the mining company for building new facilities, including a high school, fire station, community centre, library and swimming hall. We will never give your details to anyone else without your consent. When I speak to people they say: 'Yes I know that, but what about a grave? "Its a very specific situation. The mining company, Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara (LKAB), and its owner, the Swedish government, are moving over 20 significant buildings from the old town of Kiruna … "The physical things are easy, in a way. The current town is a sprawling suburban network of winding streets, home to detached houses with gardens. "We will only use your email address to send you the newsletters you have requested. That person might say, 'I want to have a city hall with these qualities', and that's simple.
As the first real-world example of a town of its size to be relocated, it could serve as a model for other cities under threat.Like Kiruna, many of the world's coastal communities have also been facing impending destruction for years.Around the world, this now inevitable sea level rise will lead to the relocation of millions of people by the end of the century, with some of the world's largest cities, In the future, moving large numbers of people may need to become commonplace. White’s plan incorporates a much higher-density arrangement of multistorey apartment blocks around shared courtyards, lining straight axial boulevards, down which the icy winds will surge.It is an opportunity, say the architects, for Kiruna to “reinvent itself” into a model of sustainable development, attracting young people who wouldn’t have stayed in the town before, with new cultural facilities and “visionary” things such as a cable car bobbing above the high street. "The key challenge for the architects and planners of the new Kiruna has been understanding the elements that contribute to the town's history and liveability. But top of most people’s concerns is where they will actually live, and what process will determine the housing allocation.“These details have yet to be determined,” admits Lindstedt. But it is a vision that many of the existing residents seem unlikely to be able to afford.The plan for a new town square in Kiruna, Sweden, with its circular town hall by the Danish architect Henning LarsenThe plan for a new town square in Kiruna, Sweden, with its circular town hall by the Danish architect Henning LarsenAn artist’s impression showing some preserved architecture They are small trees! KIRUNA, Sweden ― Near the top of the world, more than 90 miles into the Arctic Circle, lies Kiruna. "I have had visits from a few countries that are facing this: Malaysia, some US states and the Netherlands of course," said Cars. The likely risk is that countries with huge low-lying populations, like Bangladesh, will pay a huge price for impact of global pollution. Kiruna could serve as a real-world example of how to tackle the very real prospect of relocating towns and cities under-threat around the world.Cars pointed out that, while Kiruna can demonstrate the physical and emotional process of relocation, its financial model is unique.The town is fortunate in that its destruction is directly related to the highly profitable vein of iron ore it sits above. Driven by the insatiable global appetite for construction, the mine has become the world’s largest iron ore extraction site, producing 90% of all the iron in Europe, enough to build more than six Eiffel Towers a day. "The opening of the city hall marks the beginning of the moving process and the opportunity for creating a new social identity for the city. "Although it's not a financial blueprint, Cars still believes that architects taking on the challenge can learn a lot from Kiruna.The key to its success, he claimed, will be the seriousness with which the urban planners have attempted to continue the town's legacy, while also providing high-quality new facilities appropriate for its current and future generations.Communication also played a huge part, with residents constantly made aware of the ideas and plans, and invited to share their views on what the future town should be.
While physically moving structures is difficult, it is logistically simpler than understanding what makes a town somewhere people feel at home. Nestled between two mountains, it’s a small but sprawling city …
As the first real-world example of a town of its size to be relocated, it could serve as a model for other cities under threat.Like Kiruna, many of the world's coastal communities have also been facing impending destruction for years.Around the world, this now inevitable sea level rise will lead to the relocation of millions of people by the end of the century, with some of the world's largest cities, In the future, moving large numbers of people may need to become commonplace. White’s plan incorporates a much higher-density arrangement of multistorey apartment blocks around shared courtyards, lining straight axial boulevards, down which the icy winds will surge.It is an opportunity, say the architects, for Kiruna to “reinvent itself” into a model of sustainable development, attracting young people who wouldn’t have stayed in the town before, with new cultural facilities and “visionary” things such as a cable car bobbing above the high street. "The key challenge for the architects and planners of the new Kiruna has been understanding the elements that contribute to the town's history and liveability. But top of most people’s concerns is where they will actually live, and what process will determine the housing allocation.“These details have yet to be determined,” admits Lindstedt. But it is a vision that many of the existing residents seem unlikely to be able to afford.The plan for a new town square in Kiruna, Sweden, with its circular town hall by the Danish architect Henning LarsenThe plan for a new town square in Kiruna, Sweden, with its circular town hall by the Danish architect Henning LarsenAn artist’s impression showing some preserved architecture They are small trees! KIRUNA, Sweden ― Near the top of the world, more than 90 miles into the Arctic Circle, lies Kiruna. "I have had visits from a few countries that are facing this: Malaysia, some US states and the Netherlands of course," said Cars. The likely risk is that countries with huge low-lying populations, like Bangladesh, will pay a huge price for impact of global pollution. Kiruna could serve as a real-world example of how to tackle the very real prospect of relocating towns and cities under-threat around the world.Cars pointed out that, while Kiruna can demonstrate the physical and emotional process of relocation, its financial model is unique.The town is fortunate in that its destruction is directly related to the highly profitable vein of iron ore it sits above. Driven by the insatiable global appetite for construction, the mine has become the world’s largest iron ore extraction site, producing 90% of all the iron in Europe, enough to build more than six Eiffel Towers a day. "The opening of the city hall marks the beginning of the moving process and the opportunity for creating a new social identity for the city. "Although it's not a financial blueprint, Cars still believes that architects taking on the challenge can learn a lot from Kiruna.The key to its success, he claimed, will be the seriousness with which the urban planners have attempted to continue the town's legacy, while also providing high-quality new facilities appropriate for its current and future generations.Communication also played a huge part, with residents constantly made aware of the ideas and plans, and invited to share their views on what the future town should be.
While physically moving structures is difficult, it is logistically simpler than understanding what makes a town somewhere people feel at home. Nestled between two mountains, it’s a small but sprawling city …