Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • This is Kiruna.

  • 200 kilometres...

  • above the Arctic Circle...

  • -...and Swedens most northern city.

  • Few Swedes

  • have been this far north.

  • We sure haven't - we're from the south.

  • From mid December and almost

  • a month ahead the sun never rises.

  • That's me - Henrik. I'm a videographer.

  • We came here to find out

  • why you'd want to move a city...

  • ...and how the fudge it's done.

  • This is Johanna, one of the 18,000 residents.

  • This is her father - Janne.

  • This is her grandfather,

  • and this is her grandfathers uncle.

  • This is their family store.

  • Kiruna is also the home of a great mine - distant but always present.

  • It has been the eye and foundation

  • of the city for more than a century.

  • The process started in 2004 when LKAB informed-

  • -that we needed to move if they

  • should be able to continue mining.

  • The mine has always worked in symbiosis with Kiruna.

  • The mine is the reason

  • that Kiruna is placed where it is.

  • It was never an option to close the mine.

  • This is our equivalent to a bike

  • and we use it in winter time.

  • It's called a "spark".

  • Is it true that Kiruna is the largest municipality in the world?

  • We were actually

  • the largest in the world-

  • -but then two municipalities in Australia merged to create one.

  • With some cheating the Australians

  • beat us, but we're number two!

  • We decided to go for a drive in the land of Volvo-

  • -to check out

  • this huge municipality.

  • Johanna and her father are

  • preparing to move the family store-

  • -as is every other store in the current city centre.

  • In fact,

  • they cannot stay much longer-

  • -or the store just might fall 2,000 meters down into the abyss.

  • Abyss? Now, here's the thing...

  • Extracting iron ore

  • makes the city deform-

  • -and the city has to move three kilometres east.

  • A few buildings will be moved.

  • The rest will be demolished and rebuilt.

  • While being shown around the mine by LKAB-

  • -we got stuck up on the freezing top

  • of the iron ore mountain.

  • -That's great shoes you've got there. -Thanks, man!

  • -Not like mine...

  • -A little action is all you need.

  • My hat's falling off.

  • Iron ore is the most widely used metal in the world.

  • Refined into steel

  • it's the framework and skeleton-

  • -for stadiums, cars, skyscrapers and agrimotors, like this one.

  • The state-owned LKAB

  • is the company that runs the mine-

  • -and pays for the move of the city centre.

  • The world's largest

  • urban relocation.

  • The moving of the city has started.

  • It will continue for about 20-30 years forward in time.

  • When LKAB extracts iron ore

  • it affects the surface.

  • Every time a bucketful of ore is removed from the mine-

  • -some of the waste rock above falls

  • and the surface subsides.

  • This is known as ground deformation-

  • -and is why the city centre

  • of Kiruna has to move.

  • This is the purest iron ore in the world.

  • Ironically, to get the purest stuff

  • you have to go all the way down.

  • To the bottom.

  • Kiruna was founded as a city back in the year 1900-

  • -by LKAB's managing director

  • Hjalmar Lundbohm.

  • Nowadays LKAB is one of Sweden's biggest taxpayers-

  • -and holds 90 percent

  • of the iron ore market in the EU.

  • While deposits from other mining companies may be at 30-40 percent-

  • -the purity of the Kiruna iron

  • is at 65-70 percent.

  • Worth moving a city for.

  • [Explosion]

  • We woke up in the middle of the night.

  • At breakfast we talked to the great

  • chef to find out what was going on.

  • It's always after twelve o'clock when they are blowing in the mine.

  • No way! I'm used to it. I've lived here all my life. I'm 45 years old.

  • Yeah. I don't mind at all. I don't hear it.

  • When facing one of the biggest urban transformations of our time-

  • -there are a lot of things

  • to think about.

  • The Architecture Firm White has been hired to link it all together.

  • Shall we head to the church?

  • Here we are at the Kiruna church.

  • It was voted as Sweden's

  • most beautiful building in 2001.

  • So they love their church, and I love the church.

  • Hi!

  • -One, three!

  • -You cheated! You bastard!

  • The church is one of few buildings that are actually gonna be lifted-

  • -and moved on trucks or cranes

  • to the new city centre.

  • The biggest challenge that's facing us is not the design of a new city-

  • -which is sustainable and attractive

  • and modern.

  • The biggest challenge is to move the minds of the people and the culture.

  • Every decision we take as architects-

  • -has a future life attached to it

  • for a hundred years forward.

  • This is what it's all about - iron ore.

  • The purest in the world.

  • Worth moving a whole city for.

  • -Looks a bit like deer poo.

  • -Yeah, it does!

  • This is how the move works:

  • LKAB buys your home

  • for market price, plus 25 percent.

  • Or they give you a new home in a new part of town.

  • Then your home and neighbourhood

  • is demolished.

  • Johannas new home is located at a safe distance from the mine...

  • ...at least with today's forecasts.

  • Even these are Volvos.

  • Behind us is the new city centre.

  • It seems pretty random still.

  • Just pick a location. At least it's at a safe distance from the mine...

  • ...and the sinkholes.

  • - Supposedly.

  • This is where it's all gonna be:

  • Johanna's and Janne's store Centrum-

  • -the old church, the old clocktower, and the new city hall-

  • -which you can already

  • see the foundation to.

  • This is the city I am born and raised in.

  • It's really important for me

  • that the surroundings-

  • -will be as much the same as they are today - even better.

  • I'm not sure why I love the weather so. I love the midnight sun.

  • I love the darkness of winter

  • and I love the snow.

  • I just love the snow. I love sculpting, designing and creating in snow.

  • It's my favourite medium to work with

  • as an architect. Pure form.

  • -Like a good piece of music.

  • -Or a good meal.

  • -Or a good piece of city?

  • -Haha. Like a good city it doesn't last.

  • That was easy.

  • This is Henrik and Johan,

  • reporting for Sweden.se.

  • Thank you for watching!

This is Kiruna.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it