Making Place for Space : a History of 'Space Town' Kiruna 1943-2000

• Main Author: Backman, Fredrick
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för idé- och samhällsstudier 2015
• Subjects: history of science; history of technology; space physics; space science; space technology; geophysics; cultural geography; place-making; regional identity; Kiruna; Sweden; 20th century; History of Ideas; Idé- och lärdomshistoria; Teknikhistoria
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-101725

Science and technology have a tendency to clump together in places where they spawn other forms of societal activities. Sometimes these places become famous through processes known as place-making, or the social construction of place. Because the scientific and technological activities affect the places, and the places conversely affect the science and technology, it is relevant to study how and why these connections emerge. This dissertation examines the particular case of the northern Swedish town of Kiruna, which has become known for being a `space town' because of its scientific, technological, and other activities that relate to the near space around the earth. The overall objective is to analyse the processes underlying the making of Kiruna as a space town in the period 1943--2000. Five parts make up the study. First is an examination of how the development of space physics research in Kiruna led to the setting up of a scientific observatory. The second part studies how the Swedish participation in the European Space Research Organisationmade Kiruna the place for a rocket base. Next follows an analysis of how local business efforts contributed to forming a new satellite technology business and the Space House office building. The fourth part concerns how the visions to establish a space `university' eventually led to the emergence of the Space Campus. Last is an epilogue that briefly analyses the space tourism efforts in Kiruna. A central finding is that the space town has emerged as the result of entwined processes where, on the one hand, ideas about the near space around the earth have led to new activities and physical structures, and, on the other hand, these new activities and built structures conversely have inspired to new ideas. Of importance is also the geographical place where these developments have occurred. Here, a reoccurring argument to placing the activities and structures in Kiruna was the town's geographically favourable location for specific scientific and technological activities. ...