Elsewhere, such bang out of settlements are known as company towns.
In Britain they are called model villages.
They became modelsexamples for others to follow.
Houses in Port Sunlight, a British model village.
So landowners had these cottages demolished and the people relocated to a new landscape creating the first model village.
Unlike the landowners, some of these industrialists were genuinely concerned for the welfare of their workers.
There were once over 400 planned settlements in Britain.
An early example is New Lanark in Scotland, built by Robert Owen for his cotton mills.
New Lanark is a UNESCO World Heritage Site now.
The name is derived from Lever Brothers' most popular brand of cleaning agent, Sunlight.
Between 1899 and 1914, Lever built around 800 houses to house a population of 3,500.
Each house was designed by a different architect resulting in a beautiful mix of styles.
Today, Port Sunlight contains nine hundred Grade II listed buildings.
According to Joseph Rowntree Foundation, it is “one of the nicest places to live in Britain”.
The statement was made in 2003, and its as true as it was a century ago.
No charges were levied for use of these facilities.
The Cadburys provided education and workers were given the opportunity to complete commercial or technical training.
The firm also established work councils, such as the Women’s Works Council, and supported trades unions.
They pioneered pension schemes, joint works committees and a full staff medical service.
A house in Bournville.
Both villages had clubhouses, bowling greens, cooperative society stores, cricket pitches and schools.
Saltaire became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
The practice of building model villages came to an end in the 1920s.
Photo credit:Tim Green/Flickr
Whiteley Village, a model village in Surrey, has an octagonal layout.
Photo credit:Mike Roycroft/Wikimedia
Vickerstown, a model village was built in 1901 by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering.
Photo credit:Christina Rose Howker/Flickr
Rows of houses built for railway workers in Swindon Railway village.
Photo credit:Ed G Baston/Panoramio
Sources:Wikipedia/Wikipedia/Google Sightseeing/www.buildinghistory.org
