Model industrial settlements and their continuing governance: Fid-Bau Portal

Model industrial settlements and their continuing governance

Minnery, John

This paper explores the continuing governance of three important historical industrial company towns that were developed as model settlements: New Lanark and Saltaire in the UK and Pullman in the United States. It explores the changing roles of the private sector, the public sector and civil society in the on-going stewardship of the settlements.

This paper concludes that urban governance arrangements are important. In all three cases, the towns were initiated by private entrepreneurs but they are no longer in the ownership of the originating companies and their original economic base has vanished. In all three, public sector action was, at some stage, necessary to retain their integrity, but this action needed strong support from civil society actors. In all three examples, government and community action were supported by additional private sector initiatives. The interactions amongst the private sector, the public sector and civil society in the establishment and continuing stewardship of these settlements demonstrate the clear need for a better understanding of the role of governance arrangements in urban history.