The Free Cities Institute (FCI) is a non-profit initiative designed to bring world class law, governance, and city-scale public goods to all the world’s citizens — especially the six billion poorest citizens on Earth — within the next fifty years. The goal: The eradication of mass poverty and a dramatic reduction in global violence.
Most of the world’s people do not currently have access to high-quality law, governance, and city-scale public goods. The value of safe drinking water, security, sanitation, roads and other public goods is self-explanatory, but we also know that when people obtain access to better law and governance, as by immigration for example, their lives improve dramatically. There is compelling evidence that these institutions are key prerequisites for economic growth and many other desirable outcomes associated with the escape from poverty. Populations with abundant opportunities to be prosperous live healthier, happier and longer lives and are much less likely to experience large-scale violence.
In order to spread these beneficial institutions throughout the world, we have combed history for the most successful strategies for improved law, governance, and city-scale public goods, to which we have added our own innovations. The Free Cities Institute serves to develop and disseminate the most modern and actionable strategies for bringing these prosperity enabling institutions to more people. We also will act as an active incubator for specific Free City projects around the world wherever certain prerequisites are in place.
To understand more deeply why the FCI approach is different and effective consider the six core topics below. In the future you will be able to click on these topics for detailed examples, a general discussion, and resources to help you understand each point:
The Role of Legal Systems in Creating Prosperity: Why is South Korea a middle income developed nation whereas North Korea, with the same people and culture, is one of the poorest nations on earth? Why does an unskilled Mexican laborer earn $6 per day in Mexico but over $60 per day across the U.S. border? Why are former British colonies typically more prosperous than are former French or Spanish colonies? Why is Rwanda switching from French civil law to British common law?
Creating Enclaves with New Legal Systems: Why did Islamic law Dubai hire a retired British common law judge to be the “Supreme Court” for the Dubai International Financial Centre? How did Hong Kong business leaders invest in Shenzhen given the unpredictability of Chinese law? Why did Honduras create Special Development Regions that allow for non-Honduran legal systems to be implemented within Honduras?
Helping Governments Make Credible Commitments to Improved Legal Systems:How can a sovereign government make a promise that can and should be trusted? What kinds of these “credible commitments” does a government need to make to attract people and capital? What strategies can governments use to make their promises credible over very long periods of time, like decades or centuries?
Democratizing Choice of Law, Governance, and Regulation: Why do multinational corporations and wealthy individuals all have access to the best law in the world? What has prevented ordinary citizens, including the world’s poorest, from having similar access? What are the obstacles to democratizing choice of law more globally and fairly?
Integrity in Governance through Choice of Law, Governance, and Regulation:Why does more choice of law lead to greater integrity in governance? How does easy choice of law and governance prevent abuse of power? What is the most important human right for a citizen to have?
The Innovation Dynamic that Results from Democratized Choice of Law, Governance, and Regulation: Why will choice of law generate innovation? Why do we want innovation in law? What is blocking legal innovation today? What immediate benefits will ordinary citizens receive from a revolution in legal innovation?
