Free Cities Podcast 032 - Andreas Baumgartner: Negotiating With Governments, Lifestyle Zones & Digital Nomadism
Timothy Allen talks with Andreas Baumgartner.
We’re back in Montenegro again this week with a conversation I recorded at the so-called pop up city of Zuzalu.
I’m talking with a gentleman who has very deep ties to the Free Cities movement, working as he does in the economic development space. His name is Andreas Baumgartner and he has spent the last 25 years working in the political and legal side of the space with the likes of the Metis Institute, Tipolis and Praxis to name but a few.
Andreas has a wealth of practical knowledge on the nuts and bolts of actually negotiating with governments during the establishment and running of Special Economic Zones and semi autonomous jurastictions etc which is somewhat of a rare occurrence in my experience due to the emerging nature of the whole Free Cities ecosystem
In our conversation he is keen to emphasise the importance of trying to work with host governments and highlights the strategies he has learnt to employ when approaching them as well as commenting on the current limitations faced by the movement with particular regards to the process of incentivising different demographics to move to new jurisdictions.
This is a fascinating and informative discussion. The first of many I hope as this movement continues to evolve. Andreas doesn’t just talk the talk, he very much walks the walk as well and I appreciate that about him very much.
Enjoy the conversation.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
03:02 Andreas Baumgartner's Background
04:46 Experience with Governments
11:24 Best Approach to Free Cities Projects
12:23 The Feasibility of Taking Action in the European Union
13:11 Examples from an African Government
14:53 Exciting Regions for Exploration
17:38 Exploring Possibilities in Europe
18:10 Optimism for EU Member States
19:44 The Role of the European Union and Member States
20:14 Early Involvement in Projects and Regulatory Narrative
21:17 Integrated Zones: Business and Residential Functions Combined
23:12 Moving Special Economic Zones into Residential Areas
25:42 Strategies for Attracting People to Stay in Special Zones
26:37 The Challenge of Building a City for a Mobile Population
29:47 Personal Experience with Family Considerations in Choosing a New Place
32:05 Balancing Community Development with Location Selection
32:28 Conclusion: A Dual Approach for Successful City Building
33:30 Concessions and Preferences for Moving
34:11 Trade-offs between Attractiveness and Familiarity
35:40 Staying in Comfort Zone vs City Development
36:03 Optimism and Reality
37:53 - Awareness of Mobility Restrictions
38:32 - New Models of Living Together
39:28 - Pioneer Role in Mitigating Carbon Footprint
41:01 - The Importance of Green Technology in Free Cities
42:23 - Online Communities vs Real-Life Communities
43:28 - Importance of Intentional Communities
44:59 - Purists vs Pragmatists
46:25 - Turning Ideas into Reality
46:59 - Importance of Compromise
48:11 - Understanding Sovereign Indian Nations
49:29 - Examples of Future Frontiers
52:42 - Loss of Frontiers in the Digital Age
TWITTER:
Andreas Baumgartner: https://twitter.com/fDiIntelligence
Timothy Allen: https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen
Free Cities Foundation: https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound
OTHER LINKS:
fDi Intelligence: https://www.fdiintelligence.com/
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