Special Administrative Regions (SARs) are areas within nation-states that operate under different legal and regulatory regimes. They are autonomous and have their own independent government or governance system while remaining under the sovereignty of the host state in terms of international relations. 

The first SARs were started in China, where Hong Kong and Macau maintained their own governments under the so-called “one country two systems” arrangement. Recently, however, a new generation of SARs has started emerging. In Honduras, Zones for Employment and Economic Development, including Próspera and Ciudad Morazán, are arguably better described as Special Administrative Regions than Special Economic Zones. 

Not all SARs necessarily have to be Free Cities. However, the recently emerging SARs have been part of the Free Cities movement. The original SARs could likewise be seen as Free Cities, being self-governing territories characterized by hugely expanded levels of individual rights and freedoms compared to mainland China.

The startup cities space is incredibly broad, encompassing not just Free Cities, Charter Cities, and similar projects, but virtually all projects to build cities or parts of cities from scratch. 

Sometimes, startup cities can be more narrowly defined as cities built by startups rather than governments or even as traditional cities that are simply tailoring their policies to attract startups. 

As newly developed urban projects, all modern Free Cities are inherently startup cities by definition. However, many startup cities are not Free Cities at all and instead pursue different goals in their development.

Seasteading is the concept of building settlements on the sea, outside of the jurisdictions of existing nation-states. Since all the land on Earth has been parceled out, the high seas are a new frontier where true independence could be attained and new, more voluntary models of governance could be tried. 

Usually, the idea of seasteading involves individual modules that could be connected to form floating, city-sized platforms, but from which citizens could detach and join a different one if they were not happy with the governance of one particular seastead. This would allow one to move with one’s property and even real estate – something impossible in land-based settlements. 

Seasteads are well aligned with Free Cities. Their goal is to uphold and maximize individual rights and freedoms by providing a freer alternative to existing states. By the virtue of being located in government-unowned international waters, they will also become self-governing territories. 

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are areas within nation-states where different rules and regulations apply in some areas. These zones are usually tailored toward business, manufacturing, or enabling easy imports and exports. Since the mid-20th century, they have become a popular choice for governments to boost regional economic growth without the need for country-wide changes or controversial reforms. 

While SEZs usually feature lower business taxes, exemptions from tariffs and other fees, and a simplified pro-business regulatory environment, they typically do not have regulatory autonomy. This means that while they are free to manage their own internal affairs to some extent, they cannot choose the regulations that will apply within them and are governed by pre-set legislation established by the national government. 

There are now perhaps over six thousand SEZs worldwide, depending on the exact definition. Though they are self-governing to some extent and are in some respects freer than the rest of their nation-state, they either have little to no population, or the concessions within them are limited to businesses, with the residents enjoying only the secondary benefits of economic growth. While SEZs are in one way a precursor to some modern-day Free Cities, they cannot really be described as Free Cities themselves. 

A Charter City is a special zone within a country that is granted separate legislative powers via a charter that establishes the city and its status. This allows the city to become a partially autonomous territory that is able to set its own targeted policies on a local level, which is often not feasible to do in a nationwide setting.

Charter Cities are commonplace in some developed countries, such as the United States. They usually do not feature far-reaching innovation in governance and are often governed by a traditional municipal government, sometimes with a handful of special characteristics and more flexible policies.

The Charter Cities movement was revived by Paul Romer in the 2000s, who advocated for establishing cities with local autonomy across the world. The movement has seen great successes since, with Charter Cities now being negotiated and established across the world.

Charter Cities can be Free Cities if the content of their Charter is oriented toward expanding and protecting the freedoms of its citizens. This might not always be the case, as there are places and situations where freedom is not always priority number one and other values take precedence.

Although a relatively new concept, Network States have quickly become a household term with the publishing of Balaji Srinivasan’s book in 2022. The idea involves the creation of online-first communities that start offering governance services to their members of a higher standard than traditional states. When the community has then evolved its institutions to a high enough level, it may have enough of a stature and position in international relations to be able to acquire its own territory from existing states. Over time, this community would then move from the online world to the physical world. 

Since the popularization of the term and the pathway to “start a new country” it lays out, many communities have sprung up attempting to grow and become Network States. Some of these have a defined goal to expand and protect individual rights and freedoms. If these communities ever achieve a self-governing status in the physical world, they will become Free Cities. On the other hand, there are also many fledgling Network States that have different priorities than upholding individual rights and freedoms. When it comes to this category, even if they end up successful, such projects cannot call themselves Free Cities. 

Find out more about how Network State relate to Free Cities here.

“Smart city” is a term that has exploded in the last decade. It signifies a city that utilizes new technologies, the internet, big data, and/or artificial intelligence to improve the quality of administration or the daily lives of its citizens. 

There is great appeal in using innovative technologies to make new city projects more attractive. That is why, especially when it comes to projects on greenfield sites, new cities are often planned as smart cities in one way or another. 

Smart cities can take the form of Free Cities, existing as a self-governing territories upholding individual rights and freedoms and using technology in that pursuit. However, a smart city can also be a regular city that is neither self-governing nor focused on upholding rights and freedoms. Lastly, it needs to be said that some new technologies can be easily used to make the urban experience distinctly more unfree rather than the reverse.