045 - Patrick Lamson-Hall & Nuria Forques: Designing a Free City from Scratch, Dreamers vs Pragmatists & The Future of Urban Planning

Sep 29, 2023

01:48:58

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Timothy Allen talks with Patrick Lamson Hall and Nuria Forques.

Patrick and Nuria are a husband-and-wife team whose firm, 'Fitted Projects,' was commissioned to design the Honduran ZEDE community of Ciudad Morazán, the second ZEDE established in Honduras after Próspera. While Próspera primarily focused on technological innovation and connecting Honduras with international business, Morazán was designed as more of a 'blue-collar ZEDE,' targeting working-class and middle-class residents primarily from Honduras.

Patrick and Nuria have much to share about the design, implementation, and future of Free City projects. It was phenomenal to sit down with two individuals who possess such in-depth, hands-on experience in manifesting these innovative ideas in real life.

This conversation was recorded during the 'New Cities & Network States' weekend at Zuzalu, the so-called pop-up city gathering in Montenegro. With many of the talks and presentations fresh in our minds, we ended up dissecting various projects within the Free Cities ecosystem and discussed how the movement as a whole might best progress in the coming years.

Enjoy the conversation

LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE

Prague, 14-15 October, 2023

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠

TIMESTAMPS

(0:30) Introduction to the episode.

(3:31) Designing cities for refugees.

(6:42) Urban planning and design in refugee camps.

(12:22) Designing Ciudad Morazán in Honduras.

(16:10) Importance of affordable housing.

(22:32) What did you learn from the Morazán project?

(27:07) Pedestrianised spaces.

(33:55) Can cities evolve naturally?

(37:57) Worldwide urbanization patterns and city planning.

(40:10) Saudi Arabian experimental city called ‘The Line’.

(44:40) What are the best strategies for new Free City planning?

(48:33) Are ideological communities viable?

(51:50) What’s your opinion on the Network State idea?

(55:59) The feasibility of creating a parallel system to existing nation states.

(1:01:30) Exit options.

(1:05:27) Praxis City

(1:08:00) Pragmatists vs Dreamers.

(1:15:41) Longevity and nomadic lifestyle.

(1:17:48) Digital nomadism and kids.

(1:22:24) Future predictions.

(1:26:29) Cities will not become obsolete.

(1:29:17) What is your take on 15 minute cities?

(1:34:50) Unit size regulations in planning.

(1:38:25) 3 dimensional property rights in a Free City.

(1:46:56) Taking a one-year sabbatical and personal goals.

TWITTER:

Patrick Lamson-Hall: https://twitter.com/plamsonhall

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠