A new supercity costing £90 million promises residents freedom from government constraints.
The project, managed by US-based company Honduras Próspera Inc and backed by several US tech entrepreneurs, is a social and economic experiment. The company has raised £90 million through investments in order to make their vision of a city-state a reality.
Situated on the island of Roatan, around 40 miles north of Honduras, the experimental city is named Próspera.
The supercity is currently home to 2,125 residents but is expected to be able to accommodate up to 10,000. Residents will have to pay £972 a year and demonstrate that they respect ‘Próspera’s reputation and social harmony’ in order to live there.
Próspera is a private, for-profit start-up city that has its own government which courts foreign investors through low taxes and light regulation. It is the fastest-growing startup city project in the world.
It was established in 2017, four years after the Honduran government founded the concept of a Zone for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE). The original idea of ZEDE was to create thousands of jobs by attracting foreign investors to a country where 64 per cent of the population lives in poverty.
The city has its own laws, legal system and police force.
Through the introduction of low taxes, a privatised government and self-regulation, Próspera hopes to drive economic development that would be impossible under normal governmental frameworks.
Security in the new supercity is provided by armed guards employed by private firms and an arbitration centre staffed by three retired judges from Arizona handles dispute and resolution.
Education, healthcare, public services and everything in between is privately owned. A company from California offers a Montessori education for around 60 students.
The city is inspired by the ideas of German economist Titus Gebel, who worked as the Chief Legal Officer for the project between 2017 and 2019.
‘For a fixed fee, the operator offers citizens of the free private city protection of life, liberty and property,’ he said.
Mr Gebel’s vision is inspired by cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong that transformed themselves into global hubs through special economic zones.
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