Kohtla-Järve

Country: Estonia
Year founded: 1946
Planned population: ca. 100,000
Current population: ca. 33,500
Purpose: established to support the rapid development of the oil shale industry
Special feature: a multi-nuclear city made up of separated districts; motto: “The best city is the hometown”

Born from Estonia’s oil-shale industry, Kohtla-Järve grew rapidly under Soviet rule, becoming a patchwork of industrial neighbourhoods for miners and factory workers. After independence, the collapse of this economy left empty housing, unemployment, and deep social divides. Today, this multicultural town—where Russian speakers form the majority (74 %)—faces the challenge of redefining its future, seeking new forms of work and urban renewal amid population decline and the remnants of its industrial past.

Avtor: New Towns New Narratives Network

Kraj: Kohtla-Järve