La ruta de company towns en la península de Baja California: trazados urbanos y patrimonio industrial, siglos XIX y XX

Abstract

Company towns on the Baja California peninsula can be considered an instrument for urbanization in the area from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. The Mexican government took advantage of the early industrialization in northern Mexico to use an unprecedented strategy: to try to occupy that long, narrow, sparsely populated peninsula with urban development. Major territorial concessions were granted to foreign capital to colonize the region via large industries that designed towns and industrial cities. This article reviews the initial industrialization of the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur based on ten case studies in which companies mapped cities in this territory. The text defends the hypothesis that these urban layouts contain rich industrial patrimony, so that in the future they can support intervention strategies by reassessing their urban identity, in order to reinforce their territorial structure.