It Costs $1 Billion To Move A Town Of 18,000 Three Kilometers To The Right

May 31, 2017 in Daily Bulletin

Akshat Rathi brought a whole new meaning to “out of town”:

  • Kiruna is a Swedish city, founded in 1900, on the edge of an iron ore mine.
  • As the state-owned mining company has dug deeper, the risk of the town falling into a sinkhole has increased.
  • The company is now in the process of physically lifting and moving historic buildings in the town – determined through a public vote – 3 kilometers (2 miles) to the east.
  • People who live in buildings that aren’t being moved will have their properties purchased at 125% market value – or be offered a similarly sized house at the new location.
  • All in all the move is expected to cost over a billion dollars, and require at least 20 years.

Read more on Quartz.