The Knight Frank Wealth Report 2012 has predicted which cities will lead the world in 2050, in terms of geopolitical power and importance.
The report is published by Knight Frank, a London-based independent global residential and commercial property consultancy, in partnership with Citi Private Bank, Citigroup's wealth management services arm for ultra high net worth individuals, law firms, and institutional investors.
According to the Wealth Report 2012, the emerging urban geopolitics is centered in a networks of cities.
“It has become clear over the last few decades that our geopolitical future is not going to be determined by the ‘G2’ combination of the United States and China. It will instead run via 20 or so strategic urban networks,” Saskia Sassen, professor and co-chair of the Committee of Global Thought at Columbia University, said in the report.
“Those cities that work together begin to matter more in the global economy and in geopolitics than their respective countries,” she added.
Click on Start to have a look at the top ten emerging cities of the world projected to lead the world in 2050:
Washington, New York and Chicago are becoming more important geopolitically than the United States is as a country, according to Saskia Sassen, professor and co-chair of the Committee of Global Thought at Columbia University. The Wealth Report 2012 predicts Washington to be the leading geopolitical city in 2050.Image: Tulips are seen in bloom on the first official day of Spring on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 20, 2012. REUTERS/Larry DowningImage: The Statue of LibertyREUTERS"Chicago is rising fast as a geopolitical actor – think of the state visit by Chinese president Hu Jintao in January 2011, when he stopped not just in Washington but also in Chicago," Sassen said.Image: Chicago's skyline captured during Earth Hour 2008.ReutersBeijing is the center of power and will be leading geopolitical city from Asia in the world in 2050.Image: Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army march in front of the Great Hall of the People, the venue of the National People's Congress, in Beijing.REUTERS/Jason LeeHong Kong’s critical role as a global intermediary will see the city rise as one of the top ten leading geopolitical cities of future, according to Wealth Report 2012.Image: The International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong is 1,588ft tall and was completed in 2010. ReutersShanghai is the leading national industrial and financial center and is ranked sixth in leading cities the world in 2050, in terms of geopolitics.Image: The 1,600ft tall Shanghai World Financial Centre.ReutersWith Berlin the seat of the European Union’s most powerful economy, the city will be a leading geopolitical center of future.Image: Fireworks explode during the New Year celebrations over the Brandenburger Tor gate in Berlin.REUTERS/Tobias SchwarzWith and Frankfurt the seat of the EU Central Bank, the city is the bulwark for the EU. However, if there were no EU, Berlin and Frankfurt would not be as significant geopolitically, according to the Wealth Report 2012.REUTERSThe Bosphorus Bridge is illuminated in Istanbul Oct. 21, 2011. Istanbul is a classed as a megacity, those with a population of over 10 million people. Istanbul is rapidly becoming a major global policy nexus.ReutersTurkish soldiers march during a changing of the guard ceremony at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Ankara Oct. 8, 2011. Ankara is rapidly becoming a major global policy nexus.REUTERS/Murad Sezer
