Mining colonies: Cité Sud des Liégeois, Zwartberg

When the mining concession to the west of As was granted in 1906 the concession holders, much like the group of the mining concession to the south of As, first sought to build their colliery within the boundaries of that village. The village council of As denied these requests for fear of urbanization, change to their way of life and an influx of strangers. As a result of this a site already owned by one of the participants in the mining company Société Anonyme Charbonnages des Liégeois en Campine was quickly secured for the construction of a colliery. The site also lay close to the country estates of two other company owners Eikenberg (Oak Hill in Dutch) and Luciebois (Lucy's Wood in French). The terrain was covered in heathland with some small land dunes of which the Zwarte Berg was one of the highest (80 m).  A straight thoroughfare ran across the marshy heath connecting Genk via Winterslag to Meeuwen in the north.

The work started in 1909 with the construction of a railway connecting the site to the Hasselt - Maaseik railway line and the first colliery buildings needed for sinking the pits (such as a cement factory, a chemical plant, a pump house and a metals workshop. All these buildings were situated on a grid that ran at a 90 degree angle of the old thoroughfare. This grid also dictates the first on-site residential buildings and can still be recognized in the Cité Sud des Liégeois (after 1932 the Dutch Zuiderwijk Zwartberg is used) and part of the Cité Nord des Liégeois.

The old grid projected onto the present layout of streets of the two garden villages (north and south) and the golden trim of villas directly next to the colliery site. The villas follow the colliery grid. The garden villages are on a slightly different grid along the old thoroughfare (shown in yellow). Even the extension of the neighbouring Waterschei garden suburb conforms to this grid. Also the new thoroughfare (shown in deep red) is part of this grid.

The first housing at the Zwartberg site was constructed in 1914-15 south of the railway and next to the colliery. It consisted of a large villa for the managing director to the west and a row of large villas parallel to the railway and colliery. The executive villa was built near the source of the Roosterbeek (literally: Brook of Reeds). East of the old thoroughfare workers housing was constructed around small green squares in a orthogonal layout. The Great War halts further construction. This is picked up again in 1919. But by this time the ideas on workers housing have shifted towards the garden city ideals (although this is mostly limited to the layout of streets, placement of buildings and building style).

The Nationale Maatschappij voor Goedkopen Woningen en Woonvertrekken (National Society for Affordable Houses and Lodgings) was founded by the Belgian state in 1919 with the aim to alleviate the acute shortage of living accommodation in post-war Belgium. The society concentrated its work in urbanized areas and had a role in coordinating, controlling and (co)financing the construction of family homes for both rental and sale. Projects were carried out by local building societies and private building firms. For factory housing industrialist founded building societies to be eligible for subsidies from central government. This meant though that the national society could greatly influence the type of houses that were to be built, and how they were to be situated. From the moment the National society for Affordable Housing is directing house building we see a shift towards the garden city esthetic and layout. The marked differences between the Cité Sud and Cité Nord at Zwartberg are testament to this.

The Cité Sud was built in several building campaigns. All parts differ in building style. The placement of the housing blocks is similar through the decades though. The first part of the garden village was constructed in 1914-15 around small green squares. The extension built between 1925 and 1930 is similar but the buildings are much more sober in detailing and less Walloon in style. This extension is built on either side of a formal axis terminating in a large round square. At the same time the railway was extended towards Winterslag. This arc cuts through the old grid. In 1947 the houses along the western edge were built. In the 1960s an apartment building was constructed on what looks to have been a green square. In de the 1980s new rows of terraces are built (replacing older buildings) that differ greatly in appearance, but follow the orthogonal placement in this mining colony. Recently a former factory building has been replaced with short terraces that are sympathetic to the old miners housing.

The Cité Sud is only a small portion of the total urbanized area on the south side of the Zwartberg colliery. The former mining seat (M) has been transformed into the Industrial Zone Genk Noord and all building have been torn down, except for the old offices (O) that now house the police academy. A double avenue flanks the now removed old railway track. On the south side of it villas dating from the 1920s. The avenue terminates at the executive villa (E) where a small commercial district (C) had sprung up. South of this cluster of shops a large open air velodrome (V) was constructed in 1932. It was closed in 1966 and the site was developed for housing in the 1970s. Next to the Cité Sud a large complex De Drie Linden was built housing a school (S) and a care centre for (elderly) people with learning difficulties (cc).