Company-Towns: les cités ouvrières éclairées par trois cas d'étude européens
Qu'est-ce qu'une company-town?
Une company town résulte d’une planification de la part des instances de l’entreprise (usine) en vue de contrôler sa main-d’œuvre, en permettant à cette-dernière de vivre à proximité du lieu de travail (de production) et proposant le plus souvent des structures collectives.
Ainsi, selon John Garner dans son ouvrage The Company Town : Architecture and Society in the Early Industrial Age “A company Town is a settlement build and operated by a single business enterprise. Most company towns appeared between 1830 and 1930 during the early industrial age “, et, “In a Company Town virtually everything associated with the settlement, including the houses, store, school, and even the Chapel, was subordinate to the business enterprise.”
Il est important de souligner que la company town est intimement liée au lieu de la production et a conditionné bien souvent la rentabilité de cette dernière. Une company town se présente donc comme un complexe lié à une industrie; et ce complexe présente un patrimoine singulier (matériel et immatériel).
Après une observation du matériel disponible sur la thématique des "company-towns", nous pourrions envisager une classification des villes-usines en trois groupes: les villes-usines qui furent à peine idéalisées et projetées, et non construites; les villes-usines construites, mais qui n'existent plus actuellement ou en état de ruines; et les villes-usines construites et qui préservent actuellement leurs activités initiales, présentant souvent des édifices bien préservés.
It is important to highlight that the company town is interrelated to production place and has mostly conditioned the company town’s profitability. Then, a company town presents itself as a complex related to an industry, and this complex gives place to an unique heritage (material and immaterial).
After a deep consultation of available materials about the theme “company towns”, a classification of factory towns can be established at three levels: the factory towns that are barely idealized and projected, and not built; the built factory towns that are not nowadays preserved or are in state of ruins; and the built factory towns which currently maintain their initial activities, often with well-preserved buildings.
A company town came from the entreprise’s planning in other words the factory in the order to get control of its labour by allowing this to live near the workplace (production) and usually offering collective structures.
According to John Garner in his book the company town : Architecture and Society in the Early Industrial Age “A company Town is a settlement build and operated by a single business enterprise. Most company towns appeared between 1830 and 1930 during the early industrial age “, and, “In a Company Town virtually everything associated with the settlement, including the houses, store, school, and even the Chapel, was subordinate to the business enterprise”