Planning the new city-emotional reaction and positions

Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, is constructed around a classic industrial source of production - the prosperous mine. The mine has been the overwhelmingly dominant employer in the city and its fortunes have been intimately connected with the city's prosperity. However, massive, continuing expansion of the mine has led to severe risks of subsidence; thus, substantial parts of the city must be moved to assure both the citizens' safety and continuation of the mining. This will be done gradually over the coming decade, and all of Kiruna's citizens will be affected in one way or another. Schools, shops, daycare centres, homes for the elderly and workplaces will all be rebuilt in the new city centre. Drawing on an emotional geographies framework, this paper discusses how people's emotions are understood and given meaning, and even addressed in the planning context of the city transformation that is taking place.