“Freedom Cities”: Trump and an American global new city

Abstract

This Urban Pulse entry examines Donald Trump’s campaign promise to build up to ten so-called Freedom Cities on federally owned land if re-elected. Similar to new cities being built around the world, Freedom Cities would be selected through a competitive bidding process and aim to overcome perceived crises in present-day urbanism. However, this essay provides a close read of the Freedom Cities proposal to examine how the idea of a new city provides a means for Trump and his movement to envision a society shaped by specific settler-colonial and far-right political visions emergent within the current American political-cultural moment. As such, the Freedom Cities proposal affords a rare window into the radicalization of the Trumpian movement in 2023.