MEXICO CITY — Paul Romer is a respected economist with an unconventional plan to lift people out of poverty. And in Honduras, he thought he had found a government eager to put his ideas into practice.

What if you simply sweep aside the corruption, the self-interested elites, and the distorted economic rules that stifle growth in many poor countries and set up a brand new city with its own law and governance?

The charter city, as Mr. Romer calls it, would be administered by countries that have developed strong institutions and rule of law. If it sounds crazy, think of Hong Kong.

Once Honduras signed on and its Congress passed a law at the beginning of 2011 to start the process, the concept moved from big idea to a tentative possibility. Stories followed in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times Magazine.