The route of company towns in Lower California: historic centers and industrial heritage

Abstract

Company towns in the peninsula of Baja California can be considered a tool for urban development from the late nineteenth till early twentieth century. The Mexican Government used the industrialization in northern Mexico as a strategy of economic occupation, a great challenge to occupy a peninsula scarcely populated. Major territorial concessions to foreign companies allow them to settle large industries, to build up company towns and industrial cities. In the article I analyze the occupation and development policy of this part of Mexico showing 10 cases where companies mapped cities in this territory. I defend the hypothesis that these cities may have new development opportunities due to the rich industrial heritage they contain.