Article: Lena Blommert

DIGGING THE FUTURE

Situated one hundred and fifty kilometres above the arctic circle, on a hill called Haukavaara, lies Kiruna, the most Northern city of Sweden. Directly under the city, mining employees of Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) are working in the largest iron ore mine on the globe. The situation was not always like it is today. Back in the 1890’s, the mine was an open quarry, and the first workers settled nearby, in small, wooden houses that would later become the city of Kiruna. The mine and city are in total symbiosis, with thousands of its citizens working for the company directly, or indirectly via support functions to maintain the workers; It is a real working city.

However, besides its location, Kiruna also faces some rather specific nuisances and dangers from mining deep down in the mountain below. In some cities you have the regular noise of airplanes taking off or busy roads with thousands of cars passing by, the inhabitants of Kiruna have the familiar sound of exploding dynamite every night. This is necessary in order to extract the iron ore, and by doing it at night on specific times the impact is limited. The inhabitants of Kiruna get used to the feel and sound like we get used to the church bells ringing every Sunday morning; at some point you will not notice it anymore. However, noise is one thing you can get used to, sometimes these blasts can incur small earthquakes, which can have the potential to do some actual damage. Last year a record earthquake was measured, with a magnitude of 4.9 on the Richter scale, the heaviest in the history of mining history (Jonassen, 2020).

Not too long ago, another accident happened in Malmberget, which as related to a mine that is operated by LKAB, where a large sinkhole appeared next to the residential area. A warning of what could come… Since the mine goes deeper and deeper under Kiruna, with uncountable blasts to come, plans are needed in order to make it safe. Especially since the mining company is not planning to stop anytime soon: the richness of the pellets (which is iron ore melted into small balls) are unequalled in quality and therefore of great economic value. They are used for high-end steel products such as construction or the German automobile industry. In addition to this, the mine is crucial for employment for the city (Kinder, 2014; LKAB, 2019).

Already in 2004 it was decided that the city centre should be moved, geographically it was the closest to the mine and therefore also the most vulnerable. It took 10 more years to finalise the plans for the move, because it became a real move. Not only are the city centre functions relocated 3 kilometres to the East, some of the actual buildings are as well.

This only goes for the oldest buildings, including the century-old church that has been chosen as Sweden’s most beautiful public building. With its large wooden structure it has to be deconstructed beam by beam, bolt by bolt. It will be a delicate matter to rebuild on the new spot, not all residents like the idea of moving such a monument. For the smaller houses they found the solution of moving them entirely in one piece via a crane and truck and moving it over the road to their new place.

The majority of the houses and apartment blocks will be demolished and its current residents will get a replacement in the new city centre. And as a good patron of the city, LKAB is paying all the residents the current value of their house plus a solid 25% extra. Since the people will also need a new house, LKAB is also selling them a newly built one nearby the future

city centre. Actually, the mining company is paying for almost the entire operation, they take care of their people and for now they will spend 12 billion Swedish kronor (about 1.2 billion euros) in the process. (Kinder, 2014)

Aside from the huge financial aspect, moving such a city also offers new opportunities for creating a new centre! Experts from all over the country are involved in making the city more liveable and durable while taking into account the extreme weather situation (temperatures drop below -25 degrees during winter, with chilly winds haunting the streets). The old heart was stretched out quite a bit, and by making more narrow alleys with cosy corners the inhabitants will be protected even more (White Architekter, n.d.). In addition to the physical matters, the social ones are also important and face some attention. Gender inequality is also really an issue since the city attracts relatively more men who are willing to stay, however women on the other hand won’t. This imbalance is something the city wants to tackle in their new centre by building differently. For more information on moving Kiruna, have a look at the short documentary by two Swedes.

This case of moving a town is an example of how companies can take responsibility for their impact. Back in the days, especially the larger companies indeed cared for their employees to a great extent, for example by building homes and providing sports facilities. This often happened in the same city or region. Globalisation has made this connection between company and employee more anonymous, the bond is weaker and with a stronger focus on monetary capitalization, the place for the human worker has become ambiguous and unstable. Awareness and the will to intervene on the environmental and humanitarian impact level by companies belongs to a greater movement. The future will probably see more symbiotic relationships, the time of responsibility has been inaugurated.

Maarten Kamp

Sources:

Jonassen, T. (2020, May 18). Earthquake in Kiruna: Most powerful in Sweden in 12 years. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://www. highnorthnews.com/en/earthquakekiruna-most-powerful-sweden-12years

Kinder, T. (2014). Kiruna: How to move a town two miles east. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/ news/magazine-26447507

LKAB. (2019). This is LKAB performance in ironmaking. Retrieved from https://www.lkab.com/en/SysSiteAssets/documents/publikationer/broschyrer/this-is-lkab.pdf

Skarstedt, J., & Sundberg, H. (2016). This is Kiruna: How to Move a City. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKvqJ05AsPY

White Architekter. (n.d.). Kiruna masterplan - the Arctic city of Kiruna has to move | White Arkitekter. Retrieved August 28, 2020, from https://whitearkitekter.com/project/ kiruna-masterplan/

Pictures:

Left: Photo by Lennart Durehed [ArkDes] https://pressroom.arkdes.se/media/92458/lennart-durehed-kiirunavaara-2019jpg

Middle: August 31, 2017. Photo by Jessica Nildén. [ArkDes] https://pressroom.arkdes.se/ media/92348/cred-jessica-nildenthe-pic-was-taken-on-2017-08-31when-the-house-was-moved-building-ingenjorsvillan-jpg

Right Render of the future city centre, with the old clock tower. By White Architekter https://whitearkitekter.com/project/ kiruna-masterplan/