177 - The Próspera Master Plan | Gabriel Delgado

177 - The Próspera Master Plan | Gabriel Delgado

From Free Cities Podcast by Timothy Allen

April 10, 2026 · 1h 15m

About this episode

Gabriel Delgado discusses the challenges and future of Próspera, a startup city in Honduras, amidst political and legal complexities.

Inside Próspera's Survival, Legal Battle, and Vision for Governance as a Service Próspera is the world's most closely watched startup city - a Free City project on the Honduran island of Roatán operating under the ZEDE framework with its own civil code, tax structure, and regulatory system. After surviving years of political hostility from the previous Honduran government, it now faces a pivotal moment: a friendlier administration, an ongoing CAFTA arbitration, and a development roadmap that could reshape how governance experiments scale globally. In this episode, Timothy Allen sits down with Gabriel Delgado, co-founder and Chief Development Officer of Próspera. Gabe has worked in special economic zones since 2009 and launched Próspera in 2017. He pulls back the curtain on what the last several years have actually looked like - the political pressure, the decision to fight rather than retreat, and what comes next. In this conversation: The current legal status of Honduras's ZEDE framework and why it's more nuanced than the headlines suggest How Próspera survived a hostile government that made shutting it down a top political priority The ongoing CAFTA arbitration and what a deal…

People in this episode

Host: Timothy Allen

Guest: Gabriel Delgado

Topics covered

  • startup cities
  • governance
  • economic zones
  • political challenges
  • urban planning
  • legal frameworks

Keywords

  • Próspera
  • ZEDE
  • Honduras
  • governance as a service
  • CAFTA
  • economic development
  • urban design
  • autonomous logistics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Próspera

Places: Honduras, Roatán, Hong Kong, Shenzhen

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