032 - Andreas Baumgartner: Negotiating With Governments, Lifestyle Zones & Digital Nomadism

<p>Timothy Allen talks with Andreas Baumgartner.</p> <p>We’re back in Montenegro again this week with a conversation I recorded at the so-called pop up city of Zuzalu.</p> <p>I’m talking with a gentleman who has very deep ties to the Free Cities movement, working as he does in the economic development space. His name is Andreas Baumgartner and he has spent the last 25 years working in the political and legal side of the space with the likes of the Metis Institute, Tipolis and Praxis to name but a few.</p> <p>Andreas has a wealth of practical knowledge on the nuts and bolts of actually negotiating with governments during the establishment and running of Special Economic Zones and semi autonomous jurastictions etc which is somewhat of a rare occurrence in my experience due to the emerging nature of the whole Free Cities ecosystem</p> <p>In our conversation he is keen to emphasise the importance of trying to work with host governments and highlights the strategies he has learnt to employ when approaching them as well as commenting on the current limitations faced by the movement with particular regards to the process of incentivising different demographics to move to new jurisdictions.</p> <p>This is a fascinating and informative discussion. The first of many I hope as this movement continues to evolve. Andreas doesn’t just talk the talk, he very much walks the walk as well and I appreciate that about him very much.</p> <p>Enjoy the conversation.</p> <p>TIMESTAMPS</p> <p>00:00 Introduction</p> <p>03:02 Andreas Baumgartner's Background</p> <p>04:46 Experience with Governments</p> <p>11:24 Best Approach to Free Cities Projects</p> <p>12:23 The Feasibility of Taking Action in the European Union</p> <p>13:11 Examples from an African Government</p> <p>14:53 Exciting Regions for Exploration</p> <p>17:38 Exploring Possibilities in Europe</p> <p>18:10 Optimism for EU Member States</p> <p>19:44 The Role of the European Union and Member States</p> <p>20:14 Early Involvement in Projects and Regulatory Narrative</p> <p>21:17 Integrated Zones: Business and Residential Functions Combined</p> <p>23:12 Moving Special Economic Zones into Residential Areas</p> <p>25:42 Strategies for Attracting People to Stay in Special Zones</p> <p>26:37 The Challenge of Building a City for a Mobile Population</p> <p>29:47 Personal Experience with Family Considerations in Choosing a New Place</p> <p>32:05 Balancing Community Development with Location Selection</p> <p>32:28 Conclusion: A Dual Approach for Successful City Building</p> <p>33:30 Concessions and Preferences for Moving</p> <p>34:11 Trade-offs between Attractiveness and Familiarity</p> <p>35:40 Staying in Comfort Zone vs City Development</p> <p>36:03 Optimism and Reality</p> <p>37:53 - Awareness of Mobility Restrictions</p> <p>38:32 - New Models of Living Together</p> <p>39:28 - Pioneer Role in Mitigating Carbon Footprint</p> <p>41:01 - The Importance of Green Technology in Free Cities</p> <p>42:23 - Online Communities vs Real-Life Communities</p> <p>43:28 - Importance of Intentional Communities</p> <p>44:59 - Purists vs Pragmatists</p> <p>46:25 - Turning Ideas into Reality</p> <p>46:59 - Importance of Compromise</p> <p>48:11 - Understanding Sovereign Indian Nations</p> <p>49:29 - Examples of Future Frontiers</p> <p>52:42 - Loss of Frontiers in the Digital Age</p> <p>TWITTER:</p> <p>Andreas Baumgartner: ⁠<a href="https://twitter.com/fDiIntelligence">https://twitter.com/fDiIntelligence</a></p> <p>Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠<a href="https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0">⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p> <p>Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠<a href="https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0">⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p> <p>OTHER LINKS:</p> <p>fDi Intelligence: ⁠<a href="https://www.fdiintelligence.com/">https://www.fdiintelligence.com/</a></p> <p>Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠<a href="https://free-cities.org/%E2%81%A0">⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠</a></p>