What are Free Cities?
Video byBaixuArchitectFree Cities
Free Cities is an umbrella term for self-governing territories that uphold individual rights and freedoms. They usually hold a special legal status within a host state that grants them autonomy over local affairs: their own laws, regulations, public funds and services. What sets them apart from other special jurisdictions, such as Free Trade Zones, is their focus on a better life for a full residential community rather than advantages for businesses alone.
The idea is not new. After a long decline during the age of nation-states, we are witnessing a renaissance: modern Free Cities as heirs to the Italian city-states and the Hanseatic League, now combined with cutting-edge technological and institutional innovation. The models below, from Free Private Cities to Intentional Communities, all fall under this banner.
The models under the banner
From Free Private Cities to Seasteads, these are the self-governing models that fall under the Free Cities umbrella. Follow any model to the content gathered on its hub.
- Free Private Cities Cities whose administration, security and rule of law are run by a private company (the City Operator) under a Citizen Contract, with disputes settled by independent arbitration.
- Special Economic Zones Business zones with lower taxes and lighter regulation but no real autonomy: a precursor to, but not themselves, Free Cities.
- Charter Cities Zones granted their own legislative powers through a charter. Popularised by Paul Romer, they are Free Cities when that charter is freedom-oriented.
- Network States Online-first communities, popularised by Balaji Srinivasan, that aim to acquire territory and become self-governing in the physical world.
- Seasteads Permanent settlements on the high seas, beyond existing states: a new frontier for voluntary models of governance.
- Micronations Self-proclaimed states that claim their own territory and full sovereignty without international recognition, from Sealand’s sea fort to Liberland on the Danube.
- Intentional Communities Groups living together around shared values: grassroots self-determination within existing states.
- Honduran ZEDEs Honduras’s Zones for Employment and Economic Development: a far-reaching autonomy framework, and home to Próspera and Ciudad Morazán.
- Modern City-States The places already governing themselves at city scale, from a principality owned by one family to a Special Administrative Region of 7 million people.