[dollop43]

There are different kind of charter cities. Concessions in Shanghai you mentioned was ran by the colonist and work for the colonist. The locals were either rejected or not interested in participating. That was the problem.

Hong Kong was successful because it was ran by local Hongkongers. It began as much as like other colony. But Hong Kong become successful because it was cut out of the the colonist UK's control after WW2. It was a territory in the middle of a communist. The governor need local support in order to sustain their power. So they starts to adapt locals into the power structure. At the end, local Hongkongers were highly participating the society. But it become catastrophic in last two years because the new host country China does not like that.

In that sense, I agreed that charter city did not work, because a successful charter city will be doomed to destroy by the host country. It could either become a country or being absorbed. A colonist style charter city were problematic to start with.

But it is a good method to test new governing idea before a full adaptation to the whole country. It is like startup for government. In that sense, it is a good idea, and Hong Kong was a great experiment. China created Shenzhen based on that.

[arcticbull]

I think that's fair, but there's a lot we're willing to ignore because it 'won't happen here.' Can you imagine the uproar if a Chinese state-run mining company wanted to start a charter city in the Nevada desert with its own immigration policy, own laws, and own system of government? oof. How about a Russian charter city in the middle of England? You know, to dry-run totalitarianist pseudo-communism?

Even Shenzhen doesn't match the Romer definition which involves a foreign benefactor. Shenzhen is in China, administered by the Chinese. That may be why it works.

[theskypirate]

A Russian or Chinese charter city would be viewed negatively because these are hostile states. A charter city in the US composed of people from Canada would not be viewed in this way. Charter cities will not work in hostile cultural environments. I understand that from your perspective, Americans are hostile foreigners rather than friendly foreigners, and many people obviously share that view. Charter cities are an interesting concept, but the cultural environment is a critical factor in the viability of real-world cases.