Kiruna: A town on the move

When I was first told about this place, I thought it was a joke. How is it humanly possible to move an entire town from one location to another? Well apparently, it is.

Located in the far north of Swedish Lapland, Kiruna is a town with a population of around 23,000. The town itself was founded in 1899 after the extension of the railroad from Gällivare, and it officially became a municipality in 1908. The Scandes (Scandinavian mountains) can be seen clearly from the city centre and the surrounding area is home to six unregulated rivers and more than 6000 lakes. Two national parks (Abisko and Vadvetjåkka) can also be found here along with the 400km long King’s Trail.

Kiruna also shares a long history with the indigenous Sámi people who inhabit the region of Sápmi, encompassing large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

Though the surrounding landscape is breathtaking, the land itself is needed for industrial purposes which perfectly explains why the entire town is “on the move.” According to the people of Kiruna, “everything is focused on ensuring that the town and the mining industry can coexist in harmony.”

The town is at risk of literally being swallowed whole.

Kiruna’s principal industry is mining with the railroad linking the town with the port of Narvik, a major transshipment point in Norway for iron ore. A mining company, LKAB, has been present in Kiruna since the beginning of the 20^th century and now employs around 4,000 staff in roughly 15 countries.

However, due to years of work being done in the world’s largest underground mine for iron ore, the town is at risk of literally being swallowed whole. For years, the extraction posed no threat whatsoever, but in 2004 signs started to show. The town literally began to shift. Large cracks started to appear in buildings and roads and some areas of the town started to sink by several centimetres per year.

LKAB and the Swedish government decided that it was best to relocate the entire town to a new site about 3km to the east. In order for the company to continue mining until 2035, everything situated above the mine is being moved for safety.

This architectural beauty holds deep cultural and emotional significance to the people of Kiruna, so moving it poses a great challenge.

One of the town’s most characteristic buildings, Kiruna Church, is not exempt. But the question never was ‘should it be moved,’ but rather ‘how should it be moved?’ This architectural beauty holds deep cultural and emotional significance to the people of Kiruna, so moving it poses a great challenge. The move is estimated to take place sometime in 2026, and the church will be moved as one piece. Vicar, Lena Tjärnberg says, “we are more than happy that the church can move. Of course, I know people can be sad. Kiruna church is a landmark here, you can see it everywhere. You can feel sad about the skyline.”

However, some of the Sami people don’t share the same opinion. ‘Kiruna’ was actually named by the Sami people coming from the Sami word giron, which means snow grouse. Before LKAB came into the picture, the Sami people used the land to herd reindeer, an important part of their culture and way of life. But with the pressures of the climate crisis along with the current fragmentation of the land, it is becoming harder for reindeer to find their main source of winter food source, lichen. Stefan Mikaelsson, the deputy chair of the board of the Sami parliament says, “We have the railroad, and we also have the mining business and now the movement of the city centre. It is more and more difficult to continue with the movement of reindeers.”

Reindeers aren’t the only things on the move; roughly 6,000 tenants are due to relocate with their rents gradually rising over eight years to a cap of 25% higher than the old rate. The relocation, while necessary has clearly sparked mixed feelings among residents with many seeing is as a loss of familiar neighbourhoods and routines.

Perhaps the question doesn’t lie in whether it is humanly possible to move a town, but in how people choose to move forward when staying is no longer an option.

However, when it comes to safety, there is no debate. As the iron ore extraction continues to expand, moving the town ensures that both the continuation of its key industry and the long-term safety of its residents is upheld.

What I initially thought was unimaginable, is actually a reality driven by necessity. While the move brings destruction and difficult choices to those living there, it also shows a community’s unique response and adaptation to an equally unusual problem. Perhaps the question doesn’t lie in whether it is humanly possible to move a town, but in how people choose to move forward when staying is no longer an option.