Company town: Difference between revisions

A '''company town''' is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of [[Amenity|amenities]] such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets, and recreation facilities.

Traditional settings for company towns were where [[Resource extraction|extractive industries]] – [[History of coal miners|coal]], metal mines, [[lumberjacks|lumber]] – had established a monopoly franchise. [[Dam]] sites and war-industry camps founded other company towns. Since company stores often had a monopoly in company towns, it was oftenfrequently possible to pay in [[scrip]] through a [[truck system]],. althoughHowever, not all company towns engaged in this particular practice. In the Soviet Union, there were several cities of nuclear scientists (''atomics'') known as [[atomgrad]]; particularly in [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]], those were [[Pripyat]], [[Varash]], [[Yuzhnoukrainsk]] among others.

Typically, a company town is isolated from neighbors and centered on a large production [[factory]], such as a lumber or steel mill or an automobile plant,. and theThe citizens of the town either work in the factory, work in one of the smaller businesses, or are a family membermembers of someone who does. The company may also operate [[Park|parks]], host cultural events such as concerts, donate a church building to a local congregation, and so onetc.

A town that existed priorbefore to the establishment ofestablishing a primary business may not officially be a company town,. butStill, if thea majoritysingle ofcompany citizensemploys aremost employed by a single companycitizens, similar conditions may exist (especially in regard toregarding the town's economy). Similar dependencies may exist in specific neighborhoods or areas within [[urban area|larger cities]].

Company towns often become regular (public) cities and towns as they grow and attract other settlementsettlements, business enterprises, and public transportation and services infrastructure. However, if the primary company experiences hardship or fails outright, or the industry fades in importance – such as when [[anthracite]] mining declined due to dependence on [[steam locomotive]]s to spur demand – the [[economics|economic]] effect on the company town can be devastating. Without a source of employment, the communities lose [[property value]] and [[declining population|population]] as people leave to find work elsewhere.

[[Paternalism]], a subtle form of [[social engineering (political science)|social engineering]], refers to the control of workers by their employers who soughtseek to force middle-class ideals upon their working-class employees. PaternalismMany wasnineteenth-century consideredbusiness bypeople many nineteenth-centuryconsidered businessmenpaternalism as a moral responsibility, or often a religious obligation, which would advance society whilstwhile furthering their own business interests. Accordingly, the company town offered a unique opportunity to achieve such ends.

Although many prominent examples of company towns portray their founders as "capitalists with a conscience", for example, [[George Cadbury]]'s [[Bournville]], if viewed cynically, the company town was often an economically viable ploy to attract and retain workers. Additionally, for-profit shops within company towns were usually owned by the company, which werewas unavoidable to its isolated workers, thus resulting in a monopoly for the owners.<ref name="Crawford">{{Cite book | author=Crawford, M | title=Building the Workingman's Paradise: The Design of American Company Towns | publisher=London & New York: Verso | year=1995 | isbn=0-86091-695-2 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/buildingworkingm0000craw }}</ref>

Although economically successful, company towns sometimes failed politically due to a lack oflacking elected officials and municipally owned services.<ref name="Garner_a">{{cite book | last=Garner|first= J.S.|title=The Company Town: Architecture and Society in the Early Industrial Age|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992 | isbn=978-0195070279}}</ref> Accordingly, workers often had no say in local affairs, and therefore felt dictated to. Ultimately, this political climate caused resentment amongst workers and resulted in many residents eventually losing long-term affection for their towns; such was the case at Pullman.

Although many small company towns existed in mining areas of [[Pennsylvania]] before the [[American Civil War]], one of the largest,most significant and most substantial early company towns in the United States was [[Pullman, Chicago|Pullman]], developed in the 1880s just outside the [[Chicago]] city limits. The town, entirely company-owned, town provided housing, markets, a library, churches, and entertainment for the 6,000 company employees and an equal number of dependents. Employees were not required to live in Pullman, although workers tended to get better treatment if they chose to live in the townthere.

The town operated successfully until the economic [[panic of 1893]], when demand for the company's products declined, and Pullman lowered employee wages and hours to offset the decrease in demand. Despite this, the company refused to lower rents in the town or the price of goods at its shops, thus resulting in the [[Pullman Strike]] of 1894. A national commission formed to investigate the causes of the strikes found that Pullman's paternalism was partly to blame and labelledlabeled it "Un-American".<ref>{{cite book | first=Stanley |last=Buder| title=Pullman: An Experiment in Industrial Order and Community Planning, 1880–1930| publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1970| isbn=978-0195008388}}</ref> The report condemned Pullman for refusing to negotiate and for the economic hardships he created for workers in the town of Pullman. "The aesthetic features are admired by visitors, but have little money value to employees, especially when they lack bread." The State of Illinois filed suit, and in 1898, the [[Supreme Court of Illinois]] forced the Pullman Company to divest ownership in the town, which was annexed to Chicago.<ref name=Archaeology>{{cite journal|author=Pearon, Arthur Melville|date=January–February 2009|title=Utopia Derailed|journal=Archaeology|volume=62|issue=1|pages=46–49|issn=0003-8113 |url=http://www.archaeology.org/0901/abstracts/pullman.html|access-date=2010-09-15}}</ref>

However, government observers maintained that Pullman's principles were accurate, in that heaccurately provided his employees with a [[quality of life]] otherwise unattainable. to themStill, butthey recognized that his excessive paternalism was inappropriate for a large-scale corporate economy and thus caused the town's downfall. Accordingly, government observers and social reformers alike saw the need for a balance between control and well-designed towns, concluding that a model company town would only succeed if independent professionals, acting as a buffer between employers and employees, took a role in conception, planning, and management of these towns.<ref>{{cite book | last=Fogelsong|first= R.| year= 1986 | title=Planning the Capitalist City|publisher= Princeton University Press|isbn=0691077053}}</ref>

:wanted to create a better life for their employees: decent housing, good schools, and a "morally uplifting" society. In return, they expected stable, hard-working employees who would eschew the evils of drink and, most importantimportantly, not fall prey to the blandishments of union organizers.<ref>{{cite book | last=Carlson|first= Linda|title=Company towns of the Pacific Northwest|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=2014| isbn=978-0295983325 |page=190}}</ref>

Thus, the Pullman Strike did not kill the concept of a company town concept but rather initiated a new chapter in their existence. Over the next thirty years, the old model of paternalism was abandoned in favour of new professionally designed company towns with architects, landscape architects, and planners translating "new concepts of industrial relations and social welfare into new physical forms". This suited capitalists of the day who were obviously keen to avoid the experiences of Pullman. The first real example of this occurred at [[Indian Hill-North Village, Massachusetts]], in 1915.<ref name="Crawford" />{{rp|45}}

By the 1920s, the need for company towns had declined significantly due to increased national affluence.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Despite income inequalities and a relatively low standard of living conditions amongst factory laborers, the prosperity of the 1920s saw workers’workers' material well-being improve significantly. A strong post-war American economy meant installment buying was accessible to low-wage earners who could now purchase previously unattainable goods like automobiles and radios. Moreover, workers were no longer dependent on employers for healthcare and education.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

By the 1920s, the wide spreadwidespread of the automobile meant workers no longer needed to live near their work places,workplaces and now had access to more employment opportunities.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} A combination of the freedom that came with private transport and the mass communication of radio saw the isolation of company towns lessen, and the social basis of the company town becomebecomes less necessary.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Furthermore, the accessibility of private transport to the working class was a step toward equality, as private transport had previously only been accessible to the wealthy.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} As access to surrounding municipalities increased, residents of company towns gained access to an increasing amount of government-funded public resources such as schools, libraries, and parks. Accordingly, there was no longer a need for the amenities of company towns which, prior tobefore [[welfare capitalism]], had previously been unattainable to the working class.<ref name="Crawford" />

This new-found freedom saw a change in the mindset of workers, who began to look onat welfare capitalism as demeaning rather than an incentive.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Accordingly, many employees beganstarted to request additional pay in lieuinstead of welfare programs.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} This was well received by some employers as the idea of ‘laissez'laissez-faire’faire' individualism, which promoted entrepreneurial virtues of hard work being rewarded rather than direct charity, began to shape new-age paternalism.<ref name="Crawford" />

Modernization and the increase in material well-being had also lessened the perceived need for paternalism and moral reform.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Consequently, the economic downturn of the early 1930s saw some businesses do away with employee welfare schemes to reduce costs.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} However, the Roosevelt administration's [[New Deal]] dealt the final blow to end American company towns by raising minimum wages, encouraging industrial self-governance, and pushing for the owners of company towns to "consider the question of plans for eventual employee ownership of homes".<ref name="Crawford" />{{rp|204}} To a lesser extent the New Deal also reduced the need for employee housing by transforming housing finance to a lower-interest, lower-deposit system, making home ownershiphomeownership more accessible to the working class.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

During the late nineteenth century, model company towns materialised,materialized as enlightened industrialists recognisedrecognized that many poor workers were living in appalling conditions.<ref name=parsons/> These industrialists wished to combat the unsanitary and congested conditions common to working -class districts in order to create better living conditions for workers.<ref name="Garner_b">{{cite book | last=Garner | first= J.S.|title=The Model Company Town: Urban Design through Private Enterprise in Nineteenth-century New England|year=1985 |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press | isbn=978-0870234422}}</ref>{{rp|xi}} Model company towns such as [[Port Sunlight]] (1888) and [[Bournville]] (1895) were influential in regards to their building and planning innovation. The ideas generated from these model towns are regarded as having a significant influence on the [[Garden city movement|Garden City movement]].<ref name="Garner_a" /><ref name="Jackson">{{cite book | last=Jackson|first= Frank|year=1985| title=Sir Raymond Unwin: Architect, planner and visionary| publisher=London: A. Zwemmer Ltd. | isbn=978-0302005910}}</ref>

The model company town is concerned with creating a productive and prosperous company. Enlightened industrialists believed this could be achieved by providing a healthier residential environment for their employees. Planning a model company town involved the fusion of new notions of house design and layout.<ref name=gaskell>{{cite journal|author=Gaskell, M. |year=1979|title= Model industrial villages in S. Yorkshire/N. Derbyshire and the early town planning movement|journal=The Town Planning Review|volume= 50|issue=4|pages=437–458|doi=10.3828/tpr.50.4.c68854037r676528}}</ref>{{rp|440}} The paternalism of the enlightened industrialist was exhibited in his desire to provide an environment for his employees that was aesthetically appealing and which included well-designed residences, parks, schools, libraries, and meeting halls.<ref name="Garner_a" />{{rp|4}} The industrialist also wished to contribute to his workers' well-being by providing social programs such as sporting events and functions.<ref name="Garner_a" /> This, however, highlights the power and immense control possessed by the company owner, who could shape the lifestyle and activities of his employees to serve his own interests and those of the company.<ref name="Garner_b" />

Model villages for agricultural workers were founded in the early 19th century in the United Kingdom. The creation of model company towns was particularly evident in Britain during the latter half of the nineteenth century with the creation of [[Saltaire]] (1851), [[Bournville]], [[Port Sunlight]], [[Creswell, Derbyshire|Creswell]] and [[New Earswick]] (1901) and coincided with the housing-reform movement, which emphasized the improvement of housing for the working class.<ref name=parsons/> These model towns contrasted with the overcrowded conditions in British working-class districts, which were often characterized by congested housing, unsanitary conditions, and poor provision of open space and facilities.<ref name=gaskell /> Model company towns promoted the idea of orderly, planned town development as well as the notion of planningpreparing for the needs of the community in order to provide healthier living conditions.<ref name=cherry>{{cite journal | last=Cherry|first= G.E.|year=1979| title=The town planning movement and the late Victorian city|journal=Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers|volume= 4|issue=2|pages= 306–319|doi= 10.2307/622041|jstor= 622041|bibcode= 1979TrIBG...4..306C}}</ref>

Model company towns around the mid-nineteenth century, such as Copley (1849), near [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]], and Saltaire (1853), close to [[Bradford]], had improved dwellings for workers, which contrasted with working-class housing in other industrial villages and cities.<ref name="Garner_b" />{{rp|87}} These model company towns prompted the creation of others, such as Port Sunlight, Bournville, and Creswell, within an environment of reform.<ref name="Garner_b" />

[[Port Sunlight]] (1888) in Cheshire was established by [[William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme|William Hesketh Lever (later Lord Leverhulme)]] of Lever Brothers – a soap and tallow manufacturer. The earlier layout of this model company town was planned to suit the site's undulating topography of the site.<ref name="Jackson" />{{rp|47}} Port Sunlight catered for the Lever Brothers employees with improved housing (cottages of varying designs and materials) and gardens, as well as social and community facilities, including an auditorium, a school, tennis courts, and bowling greens.<ref name="Jackson" /><ref name=cherry /> Port Sunlight combined the use of formal and informal planning elements, such as straight streets close to the town centre and curved streets in the residential areas. This combination of the formal and informal represented a new feature of British town planning.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hebblethwaite, R. |year=1987|title=The municipal housing programme in Sheffield before 1914|journal=Architectural History|volume= 30|pages= 143–179|doi=10.2307/1568518|jstor=1568518|s2cid=159876304 }}</ref>

[[Bournville]] (1895), near Birmingham, was established by the Cadbury brothers, [[George Cadbury|George]] and Richard. George and Richard Cadbury chose to transfer the Cadbury factory to this new site in order to provide their employees with improved living conditions and a country environment that they could enjoy – a far cry from theBirmingham's busy, smoky city centre of Birmingham. The firm provided education in the form ofas a compulsory academic course, and workers were given the opportunityallowed to complete commercial or technical training. The Cadburys also encouraged their workers to get involved in the social life of Bournville throughby the provision ofproviding sports facilities and, athletic and cultural clubs, as well asand social events such as summer parties. [[George Cadbury]], a Quaker, preached Christian values, such as respectability, thrift, and sobriety, and sought to unify the Bournville community through rituals such as gift -giving between employer and employee. The firm also established work councils, such as the Women's Works Council, and supported tradestrade unions.<ref name=dellheim>{{cite journal|author=Dellheim, C. |year=1987|title= The creation of company culture: Cadburys, 1861–1931|journal=The American Historical Review|volume= 92|pages=13–44|doi=10.2307/1862781|pmid=11612055|issue=1|jstor=1862781}}</ref>

Bournville represented the union of industry and nature{{clarify|date=July 2023}} as the company town boasted the attractiveness of the countryside and low-density development with well-built and visually appealing dwellings.<ref name=cherry /><ref name=dellheim /> Unlike Port Sunlight, Bournville catered for a mixed community, where residences were not restricted to the workforce only.<ref name="Jackson" />{{rp|49}} Bournville illustrated how, towards the end of the nineteenth century, low-density development was being punctuated{{clarify|date=July 2023}} along with the provision of open air, space, and sunlight.<ref name=cherry />{{rp|317}} Bournville's gardens, parks, tree-lined streets, sense of spaciousness, and country setting enhanced its aesthetic appeal and demonstrated George Cadbury's endeavour to provide workers with a healthy, beautiful, and well-ventilated environment.<ref name="Jackson" />{{rp|49}}

The [[Bolsover Colliery Company|Bolsover Company]] developed two exemplary [[Pit village|mining communities]] in Derbyshire during the late nineteenth century: [[Bolsover]] (1891) and [[Creswell, Derbyshire|Creswell]] (1896). The Bolsover Company aimed to provide improved living conditions for the miners and their families in these model industrial villages. The houses at Creswell were built in concentric circles, and within these circles was a large open parkland and a bandstand.<ref name=gaskell />{{rp|446}} Not only did the Bolsover Company aim to provide better housing, but they also wished to improve workers' moral fibre, believing that the provision of facilities and the promotion of workers' welfare would discourage drunkenness, gambling, and bad language. The Bolsover Company provided facilities deemed beneficial for employees at both villages, including clubhouses, bowling greens, cooperative society stores, cricket pitches, and schools.<ref name=gaskell /> During the early years of these model industrial villages, the Bolsover Company organized various events intended to enhance community life, such as flower shows, lectures, sporting events, concerts, teas, and dances.<ref name=gaskell />{{rp|447}}

[[Catalonia]], located in north-eastern Spain, has an especially high density of company towns, known locally as industrial colonies. They are especially concentrated in river basins along the [[Ter River|Ter]] and [[Llobregat]] and their tributaries. In [[Berguedà]], for example, within 20&nbsp;km, there are 14 colonies. The total number in Catalonia is around a hundred. These were small towns created around a factory or mine, built in a rural area, and, therefore, separate from any other population. They typically housed between 100 and 500 inhabitants; in some cases, upwards of 1000 people lived in these towns.<ref name="Serra">{{cite journal|last1=Serra|first1=Rosa|title=Industrial colonies in Catalonia|journal=Catalan Historical Review|date=2011|volume=4|issue=4|pages=101–120|doi=10.2436/20.1000.01.53|url=http://revistes.iec.cat/index.php/CHR/article/viewFile/54342/pdf_159|access-date=27 April 2016|issn=2013-407X}}</ref>{{rp|101}}

These industrial colonies were an emblematic aspect of industrialization in Catalonia, specifically, the second industrialization, which resulted in certain areas that were once purely rural becoming industrial. They were first created in the second half of the nineteenth century, especially fromin the 1870s onwards after the American Civil War ended and raw cotton once again became readily available. The last colonies were created in the early years of the twentieth century. Thus, company towns in Catalonia have a history going back some 150 years; however, in almost all cases, the company that operated the colony has now shut down. The most common industry in these colonies was textiles, and the most important from the standpoint of architecture, urban design, and the complexity of their operation. There are moreMore than 75 textile colonies were recorded;, although there were also mining, metallurgy, cement, and agricultural colonies.<ref name="Serra" />{{rp|102}}

Mostly theseThese colonies (particularly the textile -related ones) were mostly constructed close to a river. This was because they used hydraulic power (waterwheels) to run the factory. One reason for this was that Catalonia was poor in coal, and importing it was expensive. In addition, the Catalan rivers (with little volume but a very steep sloping run) provided free and almost inexhaustible energy, thatwhich was lacking only in times of drought.<ref name="clua">{{cite journal|last1=Clua i Mercadal|first1=Jordi|title=Les colònies industrials al Berguedà: estudi d'una transformació econòmica i urbana|journal=Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia|date=1992|volume=VII|pages=145–170|url=http://www.raco.cat/index.php/treballsscgeografia/article/viewFile/239840/322295|access-date=3 May 2016|language=ca}}</ref>

The industrial colonies' system began to collapse in the 1960s due to their inflexible capital structure and social changes, such as the desire for workers to own applianceappliances, cars, or their own homehomes, the declining influence of religion, and the opportunities offered by towns.<ref name="Serra" />{{rp|118}} The colonies gradually emptied of people even before the definitive industrial crisis, which worsened in 1978. In the 1980s and 1990s, almost all the factories in these industrial colonies closed. From that moment on, many colonies became towns that were now independent of the company, others were abandoned and remain without inhabitants. Other factories were leased to smaller industries or now lie empty.

Having bought the mining concession of [[Grand-Hornu]] in 1810, French industrialist [[Henri De Gorge]] soon realized the need forto accommodatingaccommodate the growing workforce of his expanding business. He commissioned architect [[François Obin]] and, after his death, [[Bruno Renard]], to build a functional complex in a [[New Classical architecture|neoclassical]] style. Grand-Hornu became one of the world's first purpose-built company towns. It was abandoned in 1954 after the closingmine ofwas theclosed. mine andIt currently houses a museum of contemporary art as well asand temporary exhibitions. Grand-Hornu is one of the four industrial sites in Wallonia that were listed by [[UNESCO]] as [[Major Mining Sites of Wallonia|a World Heritage Site]] in 2012.

[[Fordlândia]] was established by American industrialist [[Henry Ford]] in 1928 as a prefabricated industrial town in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. IntendedIt was intended to be inhabited by 10 thousand,000 people, but it failed;, and the city was abandoned in 1934.

[[Arvida, Quebec]] was developed in 1927 as a company town. The town grew to have a population of about 14,000 inhabitants, four Catholic parishes, and many other denominations, parishes, and schools. It was known as "the City Built in 135 Days".<ref name="Peritz">{{cite news | last=Peritz|first=Ingrid|title=Saguenay 'utopia' dreaming big again|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date= 13 November 2010|page=A31}}</ref>

[[Sewell, Chile|Sewell]] was a mining town intended as both a residential and industrial hub linked to the nearby [[El Teniente]] copper mine. Founded in 1906 by the [[Braden Copper Company]], it came to house over 16,000 inhabitants at its peak, despite its remote location inon the slopes of the [[Andes]]. The difficultproblematic geography on which the town was erected led to its distinctive appearance, with steep staircases and the absence ofno streets for vehicular access. Although the El Teniente mine remains active, the town itself began to be dismantled and abandoned by the late 1960s as the maintenance of a remote on-site town was no longer financially viable. Some industrial activities still take placeoccur on theSewell's grounds of Sewell, but workers have largelyprimarily been relocated to nearby urban centres.

[[Kuusankoski]] in Finland, formerly also known as "the paper capital of Finland", is a prime example of the decline many company towns have had to deal with when the company itself struggles. The town relied on three paper mills owned by [[Kymmene Corporation]] from the 1870s until 2005, when two mills, Voikkaa and Kuusaa, were shut down, leaving only the Kymi mill operating. AnThe two closed mills employed an estimated 5% of the local population had been employed by the two closed mills, and Kymmene's decision left the town in socioeconomic chaos. Kuusankoski's independent status ended in 2009 when the town was consolidated into theKouvola's regional capital, Kouvola.

[[Leverkusen]] was founded in 1861 around [[Carl Leverkus]]' dye factory that later became the headquarters of [[Bayer]]. The city of [[Ludwigshafen]] has been dominated by [[BASF]]'s plants since the chemical company moved here in 1865. The neighbouringneighboring municipality [[Limburgerhof]] also emerged from housing estates for BASF workers as well. [[Neuölsburg]], built since 1875 for the workers of [[Ilseder Hütte]], was a separate municipality until 1964. Many other companies, especially in the mining and steel industry, built housing estates for their workers near existing cities, rather than separate company towns. A notable example is ''Siedlung Eisenheim'' in [[Oberhausen]] from the mid-19th century, once home to 1200 steel smelters of the [[Gutehoffnungshütte]], which is now protected as a historic monument. The mining settlements built around the coal pits of the [[Ruhr]] region were called ''Zechenkolonien'' ("pit colonies").

In 2024, [[Ryanair]] bought most of the houses on a new estate in [[Swords, Dublin]] to house its workers, citing the Irish [[housing crisis]] and the lack of affordable rented housing as a majorsignificant impediment to hiring staff.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ryanair buys most of the homes in new Dublin estate to rent to cabin crew |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/01/25/ryanair-buys-25-homes-in-north-dublin-estate-to-rent-to-cabin-crew/ |access-date=17 June 2024 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=25 January 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

In [[Japan]], an equivalent to company towns are "''Kigyō [[Jōkamachi]]''" ({{Lang|ja|企業城下町}} , Company [[castle town]]). However, these differ from company towns in thatbecause the companies do not own noror have developed these townsdevelop themselvesthem. Instead, the term refers to towns where a specific company has a major influence on the town's economy asdue a result ofto that company or its subcontractors employing a significant part of the town's population. An example is [[Toyota, Aichi]] ({{Lang|ja|豊田市}}), where the "castle" company is the automobile manufacturer [[Toyota]]. In some cases, such towns can be named after the company. For example, the Toyota City changed its name from Koromo City and named the area of the town where Toyota's headquarters is situated "{{ill|Toyota-machi|ja|トヨタ町}}" ({{Lang|ja|トヨタ町}}, note that [[katakana]] is used here to reflect the company name) in 1959.

[[Oranjemund]] was privately owned by De Beers until 2017, and thus governed by the diamond mining company's administration. In 2011, the political administration was handed over to the [[Government of Namibia|government]], which proclaimed it a town. It is now governed by a seven-seat town council that has seven seats.

[[Svit]] in Slovakia was founded in 1934 by business industrialist [[Jan Antonín Baťa]] in accordance withfollowing his policy of establishing well-organized model communities for his workers and other employees. This town (like other Baťa's company towns) was also an example of [[social engineering (political science)|social engineering]].

The mining city of [[Kiruna]] in Sweden was originally, around 1900, built by the mining company in an unpopulated area. Many buildings, including the church, were built by the company. There are also manyMany smaller towns that were built and even planned by companies. [[Skoghall]] in [[Värmland]] is such an example where [[Stora AB]] owned a papermill and contained a city-planning office.

The city of [[Pripyat]] in [[Ukraine]] was established in 1970 solely to house the workers at the adjacent [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] and their families.<ref>{{cite web | website=Pripyat | title=Pripyat: A short introduction | date=28 July 2005 | url=http://new.pripyat.com/en/city/visiting-card/2005/07/28/230.html | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711234726/http://new.pripyat.com/en/city/visiting-card/2005/07/28/230.html | archive-date=11 July 2012}}</ref> It was one of several "[[closed city|nuclear cities"]] constructed by Soviet nuclear power firms throughout the latter half of the 20th century. All amenities, stores, and employment waswere conducted through each nuclear city's power plant administration.

At their peak, there were more than 2,500 company towns, housing 3% of the US population.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|title=Monuments to power|url= http://www.economist.com/node/17249000?story_id=17249000&fsrc=rss |quote=At their height there were more than 2,500 such towns were housing 3% of the population.|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|access-date= 2010-10-19|date=2010-10-14}}</ref>

The rate of company owned housing however was higher, the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] surveyed a sample of 213 companies for 1916, a full 34.4% of their workforce lived in company housing. However, the survey covered primarily manufacturing (textile, iron & steel mills) and mining towns.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Magnusson |first=Leifur |date=1920-10-01 |title=Housing by Employers in the United States |journal= Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics|volume= 263 |url=https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/housing-employers-united-states-3883 |language=en}}</ref>

The companies that ran the towns were mainly labor-intensive companies such as coal, steel, lumber, and various war industries. Most of the people living in these towns were immigrants new to the country.<ref name=":0" /> The tight, [[paternalism|paternalistic]] control exerted by companies over the residents' behaviourbehavior and even opinions caused issues and concernconcerns.<ref>{{cite book|first=Hardy |last=Green|title =The Company Town: The Industrial Edens and Satanic Mills That Shaped the American Economy|date =2010|url = https://www.amazon.com/Company-Town-Industrial-Satanic-American/dp/B004NSVFR2/ |pages= 14, 31|via = Amazon "Look Inside"|isbn = 978-0-465-02886-3|publisher =Basic Books}}</ref>

[[Segundo, Colorado]], was a company town where the [[Colorado Fuel and Iron|CF&I]] coal company housed its workers. It offered adequate housing and promoted upward mobility through its sponsorship of a YMCA Center, an elementary school, and some small businesses, as well asand a [[company store]]. However, air pollution was a constant health threat, and the houses lacked indoor plumbing. As demand for metallurgical coal declined, the mine laid off workers, and Segundo's population declined. After a major fire in 1929, CF&I left town, and Segundo became practically a ghost town.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Weaver|first1= Glen D.|last2=Graham|first2= Ryan C. | year = 2008 | title = Segundo, Colorado | journal = New Mexico Historical Review | volume = 83 | issue = 3| pages = 323–351 }}</ref>

In the present-day United States, it is relatively rare for any place in which a single company owns all the property to be granted status as an [[incorporation (municipal government)|incorporated]] [[municipality]]. RatherInstead, companies will normally prefer their wholly owned communities to remain unincorporated, as this permits community administration of the community to be carried out by appointed company officers rather than elected officials. However, there are incorporated municipalities that are heavily dependentdepend upon a single industry or organization and may be loosely considered a "company town", even though the company does not technically own the town.

[[Cass Scenic Railroad State Park|Cass, West Virginia]], is a former company town that is now a state park. Originally founded in 1901, the town of Cass served employees who cut and processed lumber from the surrounding mountain slopes.<ref name=WVSP/> Some of the remaining houses are available for rental;<ref>{{cite press release | url = https://www.wvdnr.gov/2013news/13news084.shtm | title = Company House Rental Reservations Now Online at Cass Scenic Railroad | location = Cass, West Virginia | date = 29 April 2013 | publisher = West Virginia Division of Natural Resources | access-date = 11 March 2020}}</ref> other features are the company store and an operating railway.<ref name=WVSP>{{cite web | url = https://wvstateparks.com/park/cass-scenic-railroad-state-park/ | title = Cass Scenic Railroad State Park | work = West Virginia State Parks | publisher = Division of Natural Resources, State of West Virginia | date = n.d. | access-date = 11 March 2020}}</ref>

[[Bryce Canyon City, Utah]] is a current company town incorporated in 2007, consisting solely of the property of Ruby's Inn's property and the Syrett family, its third-generation owners, the Syrett family.<ref>{{cite news | last = Stolz | first = Martin | title = In Utah, a 'Company Town' Means Just That | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | date = July 24, 2007

In 2021, the governor of Nevada, [[Steve Sisolak]], announced a plan to launch so-called "Innovation Zones" in Nevada to attract technology firms. The zones would permit companies with large land areas of land to form governments carryingwith the same authority as counties, including the ability to imposeimposing taxes, formforming school districts and courts, and provideproviding government services. The measure to further economic development with the "alternative form of local government" has not yet been introduced in the Legislature. Sisolak pitched the concept in his State of the State address on January 19. By allowing tech corporations to establish their own governments, the plan is hoped to bring in new businesses at the forefront of "groundbreaking technologies" without the state cutting taxes or paying [[economic rent]] that previously helped Nevada attract companies like Tesla Inc.<ref>{{cite web | title=Nevada bill would allow tech companies to create governments | website=AP News | date=February 4, 2021 | url=https://apnews.com/article/legislature-legislation-local-governments-nevada-economy-2fa79128a7bf41073c1e9102e8a0e5f0 | access-date=January 25, 2022}}</ref>

In March 2021, [[Elon Musk]] announced plans to incorporate the [[Boca Chica (Texas)#Starbase|Boca Chica]] area of far southeastern Texas, the site of a [[SpaceX]] [[SpaceX South Texas launch site|rocket manufacturing and launch facility]], as the city of "Starbase". Some have labeled the plans, and SpaceX's existing operations in the area, as an example of a company town.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-06|title=Starbase, Texas: Can Elon Musk really create his own city near SpaceX's Gulf Coast launchpad?|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2021/04/06/starbase-texas-can-elon-musk-really-create-his-own-city-near-spacexs-gulf-coast-launchpad/|access-date=2021-05-19|website=Dallas News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Keates|first1=Nancy |first2=Mark|last2= Maremont |date=2021-05-07|title=Elon Musk's SpaceX Is Buying Up a Texas Village. Homeowners Cry Foul.|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-spacex-rocket-boca-chica-texas-starbase-11620353687|access-date=2021-05-19|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

*Green, Hardy (2012). ''The Company Town: The Industrial Edens and Satanic Mills That Shaped the American Economy.'' Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0465028863}} ([https://www.amazon.com/Company-Town-Industrial-Satanic-American/dp/B004NSVFR2/ excerpt and text search])