Free Cities Foundation
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Free Cities Foundation

A Free City is a self-governing territory with a special legal status within its host state, run to uphold the individual rights and freedoms of the people who live there. Explore the models

Our mission

Our mission is to support innovation in governance that leads to greater human freedom and prosperity.

We aim to inspire, inform and connect people to accelerate the creation of a global market of living together in Free Cities.

We are a nonprofit organisation working to make the field legible: to document who is building what, to bring the founders, researchers and residents together, and to publish the arguments and the evidence on a set of governance models that are still being tested. We develop no projects of our own.

The people

A small team across four continents

Team

Board

Everyone in the network
Our story

From a book to a movement

  1. Oct 2018

    Free Private Cities published

    Titus Gebel’s book sets out the model the Foundation was built around.

  2. 2020

    Founded as the Free Private Cities Foundation

    Established in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

  3. Oct 2020

    First conference, Monaco

    Supporters and allies of the movement gather by invitation.

  4. Oct 2021

    Second conference, Switzerland

    The event opens to the public at the Modelhof, under the name Liberty in Our Lifetime.

  5. Aug 2022

    Relaunch as the Free Cities Foundation

    A change of scope, not of direction, with a new brand and a new website.

  6. Aug 2022

    Free Cities Directory launches

    A public register of the projects themselves.

  7. Oct 2022

    The conference moves to Prague

    Where it has been held since.

  8. Dec 2022

    The Free Cities Podcast begins

    Publishing weekly, in conversation with the people building Free Cities.

  9. Apr 2024

    Zones of Progress premieres

    A documentary on Special Economic Zones, directed by Timothy Allen.

  10. 2024

    Incorporated in the United States

  11. Jan 2025

    Recognised as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit

  12. May 2025

    First Free Cities Online Summit

    The movement gathers online between the Prague conferences.

  13. Oct 2025

    Sixth Free Cities Conference, Prague

    325 attendees from more than 50 countries, the largest edition to date.

  14. Sep 2026

    Seventh Free Cities Conference, Próspera

    The first edition hosted inside a Free City, with 250 attendees.

What has not changed across those years is the division of labour. The Foundation builds no cities. It documents the people who do.

What we do

The Foundation’s work

  • News & blog

    Reporting, essays and announcements from across the movement, published on this site and in the newsletter.

  • The Free Cities Podcast

    Conversations with the founders, residents, researchers and critics of Free City projects, hosted by Timothy Allen.

    Latest, episode 197: They’ll Blame You When It Fails · 28 Aug 2026

  • Free Cities Directory

    A public register of Free City projects around the world, with the facts, location and coverage of each.

    17 projects on the interactive globe

  • Books & whitepaper

    The Free Private Cities whitepaper and a shelf of books on new models of governance, several published by the Foundation itself.

    7 titles on the shelf

  • Topics & FAQ

    A public knowledge base that defines the governance models and answers the common questions about Free Cities.

    19 topic guides · 21 questions answered

  • Free Cities Conference

    The annual gathering of the Free Cities movement, bringing founders, researchers, investors and residents together in one room.

    Free Cities Conference 2027 · October 28–31, 2027 · Prague, Czech Republic

  • Meetups & community

    Local meetups, a shared events calendar and an ambassador network that keep the movement connected between conferences.

    Meetups in 5 cities

  • Zones of Progress

    A documentary on the past, present and future of Special Economic Zones, directed by Timothy Allen.

    A film by Timothy Allen · 19 min

  • Speaking

    For conferences, universities and networking events we arrange speakers on Free Cities, drawn from the researchers, founders and residents in our network.

  • Policy advocacy

    We work with governments interested in establishing Free Cities within their territories, and publish research on the governance models involved.

Back the mission

The Foundation runs on its donors

The research, The Free Cities Podcast, the Free Cities Directory and the Free Cities Conference are funded by donations, memberships and conference tickets. Give once or join as a monthly member; every donor gets the Member Portal.

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We are a U.S.-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit; donations may be tax-deductible in the United States.

What your support builds

250+

articles published about us in 8 languages

350,000+

people reached by more than 350 hours of podcast and video content

35,000+

books sold and streamed

1,000,000+

views on our debates, presentations, and interviews

Legal entity

Status
501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation
Jurisdiction
Wyoming, United States
Registration
EIN 99-0806210
Registered address
30 North Gould Street, Suite R, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA
Formerly
Free Private Cities Foundation (until 2022)
Founded
2020