Charter Cities Institute

09/17/2026

Big moment for the charter cities conversation: Médias24, one of Morocco's leading news outlets, just ran a deep dive on charter cities, featuring our Executive Director, Mark Lutter.

The piece digs into why Morocco specifically could work: existing industrial acceleration zones with their own tax and customs regimes, dedicated planning agencies like Bouregreg and Marchica with powers well beyond the ordinary, and a location poised to attract investment that Europe's own regulations are increasingly holding back.

Proud to see Mark and CCI's work getting this kind of attention. Read the full piece:

Nées dans les cercles qui rêvent de villes dotées de leurs propres règles, les charter cities promettent de desserrer fortement le carcan réglementaire sur un territoire donné. Dubaï et Shenzhen fournissent à leurs promoteurs des précédents, quand leurs détracteurs y voient surtout le ris...

09/16/2026

Good to see Patrick Lamson-Hall and Titus Gebel last week at the Free Cities Conference in Próspera. Seeing familiar faces at these events is a reminder that this ecosystem is maturing. Looking forward to seeing old and new faces at our New Cities Summit this December in Waterfall City, South Africa.

See you there 🔗 https://www.newcitiessummit.org/

09/14/2026

The BBC just dedicated an entire episode to charter cities.

Our Executive Director, Dr. Mark Lutter, joined "Rethink... the future of cities" alongside journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, law professor Tom W Bell, and urban historian Dr. Sam Wetherell to unpack one of the biggest ideas in urban development today.

The United Nations estimates nearly half of humanity will live in cities by 2050, and 1.2 billion people already live in informal settlements. The BBC cleared up a common misconception: charter cities aren't about handing over sovereignty. They're a public-private partnership, a joint legal agreement between a nation and private investors that sets new laws and better rules, opening a real path to opportunity for developing nations.

Listen to the full episode:

Could charter cities be the key to urban prosperity and opportunity?

09/11/2026

There is a version of city building where everything gets planned separately and hopefully fits together later. Waterfall City took the harder path and planned it all together from the start. Homes sit near offices, offices sit near schools, and everything connects to public space designed for people to actually gather in.

🏘️ It is a small idea that turns out to be enormously difficult to pull off, and Waterfall City has spent two decades proving it can be done. Delegates at New Cities Summit this December will get to walk through the result, rather than read about it. ✨

Learn more: https://www.newcitiessummit.org/waterfall-city

06/02/2026

Are we entering the “post-intelligence” era of cities?

James of Árc argues the next generation of cities will be shaped by AI, shifting governance models, and entirely new assumptions about how societies function.

👇 Curious what you think.

05/28/2026

The New Cities Summit is officially underway 🌍🏙️

Join us in Johannesburg on December 7–8, 2026 for two days focused on the business of building cities.

Subscribe to get:
👀 First access to the full website launch
🎟️ Early updates on registrations
📣 Summit announcements and speaker reveals

Sign up now 🔗 link in bio.