
Free Cities
Foundation
What We Do
The Free Cities Foundation works with self-governing territories that uphold individual rights and freedoms.
Free Cities Foundation
Our Foundation works with self-governing territories that uphold individual rights and freedoms.

Free Cities
Free Cities are self-governing territories that uphold individual rights and freedoms.
Free Cities usually have a special legal status within their host state, which grants them autonomy to make decisions that affect their local community. This autonomy may allow Free Cities to make their own laws, introduce regulations, raise public funds, and deliver public services independently.
Free Cities differ from other kinds of autonomous territories in that they emphasize upholding individual rights and freedoms. Unlike many other special jurisdictions common in the world today – such as Free Trade Zones – Free Cities are focused on providing more freedom and a better life to full residential communities, rather than simply offering advantages to businesses.

Free Cities may adopt more traditional or more novel governance models. For example, one such model includes governance by a private operating company, where the rights of citizens are enshrined in a Citizen Contract. These cities seek to create the right incentives for a free and prosperous society by introducing a profit motive, clear legal protections for citizens, and independent dispute resolution into their governance. This is known as the Free Private City model.
The idea of Free Cities is not new by any means. Self-governing territories upholding individual rights and freedoms have existed in many forms throughout history. Today, we are seeing a renaissance of the concept after somewhat of a downturn during the age of nation-states over the last two or three centuries. Modern Free Cities are the heirs and continuation of a long-standing tradition. They also bring modern-day technological and institutional innovation fit for the 21st century.
There are many potential paths to establishing a Free City. Free Cities can emerge from historically distinct regions within nation-states or special administrative regions where autonomy has been granted more recently. Examples of Free Cities that have been able to achieve autonomy through a more recent government decree include Próspera and Ciudad Morazán in Honduras.
Free Cities may also start as liberty-focused intentional communities: territories within an existing nation-state that lack formal legal autonomy but are populated by people united by a common ethos. The shared values of an intentional community may allow its residents to achieve a higher degree of freedom than exists in surrounding areas and set it on the path to achieving more formal autonomy in the future.
Free Cities can also be established on the high seas. While all known land is currently under the formal jurisdiction of existing governments, some see a unique opportunity to establish self-governing communities on water. Floating communities that sit outside the jurisdiction of existing governments are known as seasteads.
Free Cities may also emerge from Network States. Network States are highly organized online communities that build online governance services with the vision to eventually define a physical territory and gain diplomatic recognition from traditional states. Citizens of Network States may seek to form a Free City, or an alliance of non-contiguous Free Cities, with autonomy within existing nation-states.

The Free Cities Foundation supports and builds on the broader new cities movement. In the past decade, there has been an incredible amount of attention and demand for cities where living standards could be increased and new modes of living together could be tried out. This space is incredibly diverse: from cities planned by billionaires and celebrities to the proliferation of special economic zones to New Urbanist developments addressing housing shortages or African Charter Cities creating growth and prosperity in the developing world, people all over the world are building our future, even though we might not yet know exactly what it will look like.
Find Your New Home
in a Free City
Free Cities are not just a theoretical vision. Entrepreneurs all over the globe are creating pockets of freedom and political innovation in a world of systems that have not lived up to our expectations.
The Free Communities Directory is a resource that will help you find up-and-coming places and projects aligned with the vision and principles of Free Cities.
News & Blog
Intentional Communities: An Introduction
Choose your preferred languageEnglishDeutschPortuguês EspañolFrançaisItalianoWhat Are Intentional Communities An intentional community is, in the...
Spreading the Message at LibertyCon Europe
Recently, the Free Cities Foundation took part in LibertyCon in Lisbon, the annual conference organized by European Students for Liberty. With over...
Zuzalu: A Pop-up City on the Mediterranean
Last week, the Free Cities Foundation team travelled to Montenegro to take part in Zuzalu: a two-month gathering of entrepreneurs with a shared...
Live More Freely in Latin America
Disclaimer: The following article was written by an external author. The opinions expressed in it do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the...
Vote With Your Feet, Build Communities, And Shape Your Own Reality
When confronted with limitations, we have two options: remain in the situation or leave it. We can create a fresh start on our terms, using the...
Are Network States Free Cities?
Free Cities are such a new concept that they are still in the process of being defined in practice. As a result, there are many questions about...
Join The Movement
The Free Cities community and movement has both an online and a real-world presence and extends all around the world. The easiest way to become part of it is to join our Telegram community group full of interesting news and discussions related to the Free Cities space.
Annual Conference
Don’t miss our flagship event – an annual conference hosted by the Free Cities Foundation. Titled Liberty in Our Lifetime, the conference is a unique opportunity for the global Free Cities community to come together to present, network, and learn about the latest developments in the world of innovative governance structures that create more freedom in today’s and tomorrow’s world.
