CCitiesLZones

A city charter is a legislative-administrative tool that gives cities greater flexibility and authority. City charters are granted by governments to entities to form cities. Charter cities- the cities produced by city charters- are very common in the United States, and have been proposed by immediate past World Bank Chief Economist Paul Romer as a way to give poor countries First World cities that would quickly ignite socioeconomic development in them.  In the same vein, LEAP Zones have been described by Mark Krugmann, former speechwriter to US President Ronald Reagan as a zone that is given special legal, economic, administrative and political rights by the government to enable them leapfrog into development. The rights given to LEAP Zones are even more extensive than the rights given to conventional Special Economic Zones. Both theories have led to the creation of laws enabling private autonomous cities with municipal government status in Honduras called ZEDEs or Zones For Economic Development and Employment. And their influence can be seen in Saudi Arabia’s plan to create a $500 billion autonomous city to diversify its economy away from crude oil.