Kiruna: the arctic city being knocked down and relocated two miles away

To avoid falling into the mine it grew up around, Sweden's northernmost city is knocking down 3,000 homes, schools and a hospital, and starting a redesigned centre a safe distance away. How do citizens feel about the transformation?

A remote arctic settlement, with a centre dominated by a car park, Kiruna feels like the sort of city that might be forgotten about. The place is eerily, unnervingly quiet; the streets so empty I half expect a tumbleweed to pass by as a punchline. At one point, the gentle silence is broken by a procession of Harley-Davidsons roaring through the town. They don't seem to stop.

This is Sweden's northernmost city, situated 90 miles into the Arctic Circle and a 75-mile drive away from the nearest town, Gillivare. Home to about 23,000 people and 11,000 snowmobiles, Kiruna has gained an unlikely fame over the past year, as the world hears of its plans. This remote and rather unprepossessing place is to become the city that gets moved: two miles to the east, to be precise.