ESG & #CorporateUrbanism – Part 1: The Origins
Corporate urbanism — the idea of companies actively shaping communities —has deep historical roots. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, visionary businesses understood that investing in worker wellbeing and community development wasn’t just ethical, it was strategic.
🧪 Take 𝗔𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗳𝘁, developed in 1881 by Agneta Matthes and Jacob Cornelis van Marken. Designed by Louis Paul Zocher, this garden village offered quality housing, green spaces, and community amenities—a progressive effort years ahead of the Dutch Housing Act of 1902. Today, Agneta Park still thrives, adjacent to the DSM biotech campus, standing as a landmark of corporate leadership.
💡 A few decades later, 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 built Philipsdorp, a neighborhood enriched with housing, schools, daycare, and community facilities. In 1929, the company launched the Netherlands’ first company school, educating nearly 4,000 students of all ages. This initiative, championed by Anna de Jongh—wife of Anton Philips—highlighted the transformative role education could play in corporate-community relationships.
🍫 Similarly, 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, created by Cadbury, envisioned not just housing but an environment fostering health, happiness, with one-tenth of the estate "laid out and used as parks, recreation grounds and open space. It set a benchmark for how companies could foster both individual wellbeing and community resilience.
These early examples remind us of the enduring potential of corporate urbanism to create environments where businesses and communities thrive together—a principle that remains profoundly relevant today 🌟
💬 What examples of historical corporate urbanism inspire you? Let’s discuss!
At Blossity, we help companies create meaningful social impact through corporate urbanism - transforming #ESG from a pet project to a powerful strategy for lasting change.
#stickycities #socialimpact #futureofcities
