The Emancipation of Destruction – Transforming Gällivare (Suède)

Gällivare is a remote city in the middle of the northern Swedish wilderness. The city was established as iron ore was found in the ground just over a century ago. Until the 60's the mining industry and the city grew together in what seemed to be a perfect symbiosis. But as times changed and the industry had to adapt to a globalized market and bigger production volumes, the symbiosis was broken. The mines started expanding at a much higher speed, and the same industry that once founded the city is now threatening its whole existence. The last decades have been a story of destruction and relocations. The problems of dealing with destruction and relocating people have overshadowed the needs for visions and dreams. Experts from all over the world have gathered to solve the situation. The first step will be to build a knowledge center for cities in movement. Gällivare offers a very rare context. Most of the moving cities of the world are moved within a short period of time, while Gällivare is moving step by step every year. Many moving cities are actually disappearing as the inhabitants are forced to move, which makes documentation and research very difficult. Gällivare offers the opportunity to take part of the whole process, from planning to relocation. The knowledge center is the starting point for the visionary work of transforming Gällivare.