Mark Lutter, an urban development expert and Founder of the Charter Cities Institute, dives into the transformative potential of charter cities. He discusses the challenges faced in the Prospera project in Honduras and envisions developing San Francisco's Presidio into a super-city. Lutter outlines the need for innovative governance in developing nations and explores successful models like Dubai and Singapore. He emphasizes how charter cities can act as bastions of liberty, sparking economic and cultural advancement akin to historic periods of transformation.
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Charter Cities: An Old Idea
Charter cities aren't new; they predate empires as self-governing entities.
Modern charter city concepts address economic development and pushing governance frontiers.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Romer's Early Charter City Projects
Paul Romer's charter city project in Madagascar failed due to a coup, unrelated to his involvement.
A similar project in Honduras faced controversy and legal challenges, ultimately leading to Romer's resignation.
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Diversifying Governance
Charter cities offer portfolio diversification in governance, moving beyond the nation-state model.
The Treaty of Westphalia solidified the nation-state but likely didn't envision its global dominance centuries later.
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Written in 1516, 'Utopia' by Sir Thomas More is a seminal work of fiction that presents an ideal society on a fictional island. The book is divided into two parts: the first critiques the social and economic issues of early 16th-century England, while the second introduces the Utopian society as a potential solution. Utopia is characterized by communal property, no class distinctions or poverty, little crime, religious freedom, and a strict egalitarian system. More uses this imaginary society to highlight the flaws of European politics and society of his time, advocating for a more just and equal world. The work is notable for its influence on later socialist and communist thought and continues to be a subject of discussion in political theory and philosophy[1][3][4].
On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to Mark Lutter. Lutter is an urban development expert known for his work on charter cities—new urban areas aimed at fostering economic growth and progress. He is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Charter Cities Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to building the ecosystem for charter cities, as well as the CEO of Braavos Cities, a charter city development company. He holds a PhD in economics from George Mason University, and a BS in mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park. His interests span progress studies, governance, social dynamics and institution-building, with a belief that creating new cities can spark cultural and economic advancements similar to historical periods like the Renaissance or the Dutch Golden Age. He has been published or quoted in outlets like the Financial Times, TheNew Yorker, and The Chicago Tribune.
Lutter and Razib discuss diverse topics, from the difficulties of the Prospera project in Honduras, to the possibility of developing San Francisco’s Presidio into an Asian-style super-city. They explore the various pitfalls and possibilities faced when attempting to create new jurisdictions in developing nations in the Caribbean and Latin America, along with the major obstacles to urban innovation in the USA. Lutter outlines the economic case for charter cities, along with the normative values that undergird their creation as bastions of liberty and laboratories of cultural experimentation. Finally, they discuss the Trump administration’s openness to the idea of the “Freedom City” in the Presidio, along with local opposition to the project.
Razib Khan's Unsupervised Learning 