Free cities in 2100

[Gaidheal]

Hi!

There are a couple mentioned in the setting guide but I'm not aware of any mentioned elsewhere (but have only glanced at Broken Dream and Fifth Wave, both of which seem like they might touch on this).

So, what cities do people think should / could / would be 'free cities' in the world of THS?

[jalapeno_dude]

See Fifth Wave, p. 13.

[Gaidheal]

Fine but I'm sure that's not an exhaustive list, so any personal favourites you run as such or think could be candidates? I'm likely to have quite a few more than perhaps is canon, for various reasons, not least plot opportunities.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Gaidheal

Fine but I'm sure that's not an exhaustive list, so any personal favourites you run as such or think could be candidates? I'm likely to have quite a few more than perhaps is canon, for various reasons, not least plot opportunities.

Free cities are more a nod to tradition than a real likelihood. To become a free city in the sense of an independent nation a city either has to be so powerful it can stand up to the rest of its nation (in which case, why not *conquer* the rest of the nation) or it has to believe it can do better without the rest of its nation, while the rest of the nation believes the opposite in order to be willing to let it go (an unlikely case). And first world cities have been in decline in TS for a while anyway. That being the case, no cities are very reasonable candidates, and you can simply declare any of your choice if you want them.

What cities can (and in many cases even now do) have is a complicated relationship with their surrounding government making them first level administrative subdivisions of the state (i.e. not part of any other province), and with the possibilities of special statuses and restraints on federal powers like those any province might have. This is more normal than not for the national capital really, and any large city might have this sort of arrangment.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Free cities are more a nod to tradition than a real likelihood.

Well, you can have the equivalent of an offshore tax haven that's a lump of rock with a city on it. I don't know if that counts as a 'free city' as such, it's more like a dinky nation (we don't call Iceland the Free City of Reykjavic). There might also be situations in which a small zone would be independent as a useful legal fiction or where a chunk of land with no value other than being close to some other entity and outside of its laws turns into a city (Las Vegas exists as the closest point to LA that is not in California).

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Free cities are more a nod to tradition than a real likelihood. To become a free city in the sense of an independent nation a city either has to be so powerful it can stand up to the rest of its nation (in which case, why not *conquer* the rest of the nation) or it has to believe it can do better without the rest of its nation, while the rest of the nation believes the opposite in order to be willing to let it go (an unlikely case). And first world cities have been in decline in TS for a while anyway. That being the case, no cities are very reasonable candidates, and you can simply declare any of your choice if you want them.

What cities can (and in many cases even now do) have is a complicated relationship with their surrounding government making them first level administrative subdivisions of the state (i.e. not part of any other province), and with the possibilities of special statuses and restraints on federal powers like those any province might have. This is more normal than not for the national capital really, and any large city might have this sort of arrangment.

Hmm I am not sure about 'Free Cities', but certainly regional autonomism/Nationalism will be continue to be a political feature of the next 100 years. From Scotland to the Pais Vasco and Catalonia there are huge movements for seperatism. Not sure about the pais vasco, but Catalonia and Scotland are both independent nations in the EU.

Now what sort of country they would/will be I have no idea, but the EU of Transhuman Space with its common laws and currency (and I assume taxation) mean that business as usual can carry on even if they have their own flag.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Free cities are more a nod to tradition than a real likelihood. To become a free city in the sense of an independent nation a city either has to be so powerful it can stand up to the rest of its nation (in which case, why not *conquer* the rest of the nation) or it has to believe it can do better without the rest of its nation, while the rest of the nation believes the opposite in order to be willing to let it go (an unlikely case).

Alternately, the political landscape is so changed that

City: "We want to be independent."
Country: "We would prefer you to stay, but won't force you to."

is a reasonable political dialog.

Not an entirely unreasonable extrapolation given TS's axioms.

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by martinl

Alternately, the political landscape is so changed that

City: "We want to be independent."
Country: "We would prefer you to stay, but won't force you to."

is a reasonable political dialog.

Not an entirely unreasonable extrapolation given TS's axioms.

Memetic campaigns for 'Free Cities' should exist in the setting too.