The government in Honduras is convinced that a charter city could be the safe playing field, with new rules, where Hondurans of all backgrounds can come together and put their skills to work with the financial resources, expertise, and technology available in the rest of the world. To implement this vision, the Honduran National Congress has already passed an amendment to the constitution that gives the government the power to create special development regions (which based on the name in Spanish, are abbreviated as REDs).

According to the New York Times, the new mayor of New Orleans, who campaigned on a promise to reform the city’s police department, recently asked the federal Department of Justice to intervene. The city’s police department, he wrote, has been described as one of the worst in the nation. “This assessment is made based on several indications, including the number of violent crimes, incidents of rape, and malfeasance by members of the police department.

The New York Times recently ran a story about New Dehli’s new Metro subway system. It offers a nice illustration of how a greenfield project creates an opportunity to establish new rules, particularly new informal rules enforced by norms. Part of what people like about the new service is that the cars are clean and people are relatively courteous. Some riders are so pleased that they volunteer their time to ensure it stays that way.

In an article on charter cities in The Atlantic, Sebastian Mallaby has a good summary of how the Hanseatic League of cities emerged in the Middle Ages from what was arguably the first charter city. When Henry the Lion founded Lübeck, he wrote a charter that specified “a set of ‘most honorable civic rights,’ calculating that a city with light regulation and fair laws would attract investment easily.” The city itself was a dramatic success.

Excerpt: “Castro goes to the prime minister of Canada and says, ‘Look, the Yankees have a terrible PR problem. They want to get out. Why don’t you, Canada, take over? Run a special administrative zone. Allow a new city to be built up there,’” Romer muses, channeling a statesmanlike version of Raúl Castro that Cuba-watchers might not recognize. “Some of my citizens will move into that city,” Romer-as-Castro continues. “Others will hold back.