How to Move a City

18,000 people live in Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost city. It’s a mining town in the Arctic Circle. There’s a lot of interesting things to learn about Kiruna and its charming people, but the big move is the most interesting. Mining has turned the ground under the city to Swiss cheese, so to speak. To avoid the entire downtown falling into a sinkhole when it collapses, they are moving the town square and the surrounding buildings two miles away. Although the move is still a couple of years away, preparations have been going on for quite some time. It won’t be easy, but there’s really no alternative. The mine is too profitable to close down, the huge operation needs the town to sustain it, and the people who live there love their town. (via Digg)