Cultural
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, urbanisme horloger
Photo : Momox de Morteau (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Located in the Jura Mountains of northwestern Switzerland, this site comprises two neighboring towns that developed according to a distinctive urban planning model centered on watchmaking production. La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle represent outstanding examples of late 18th and 19th-century industrial urbanism, where the layout of streets, buildings, and public spaces was specifically designed to support the horological craft that dominated the region's economy. The towns are characterized by regular grid patterns, wide streets, and standardized residential-workshop buildings that reflect the rationalization of watch manufacturing and distribution. This integrated approach to urban design, which linked living and working spaces within a coherent architectural framework, influenced industrial town planning practices throughout Europe and North America. The preservation of this distinctive urban fabric, along with numerous period buildings and watchmaking heritage structures, documents an important chapter in the history of industrial organization and craft production.
