hierarchy. The Chinese centres of Shanghai and Beijing stand out for their remarkable progress. Shanghai is on the verge of becoming a global business leader, forecast to be the world's 3 rd wealthiest city by 2025 , with world-class performance in foreign direct investment and financial asset management. Beijing is gaining considerable political and intellectual influence, enjoying remarkable growth as an academic and research hub . Together the pair galvanise mainland China's international urban renaissance. Behind them a cluster of regional centres, headed by Seoul and Kuala Lumpur, show steady progress, with demonstrable success in R&D, real estate, international connectivity and multinational firms. However, India's main hope, Mumbai, is beset by critical weaknesses in R&D, cultural provision and transport. All high-population Asian cities -- except Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore -- continue to struggle in indices of liveability, environmental progress, cultural-historical kudos and health. North American cities have, on the whole, weakened. With the exception of New York, all six North American cities have lost ground in the Global Power City Inde x . The trailblazers -- Boston , Seattle , Vancouver , Austin and Portland -- have excelled on environmental and entrepreneurial measures, successfully nurturing innovation and creativity . These cities have illustrated the benefits of compactness and a local governance framework responsive to future economic and social trends. Intellectual assets and knowledge economy talent remain the key differentiators for urban success in this region. A wide divergence of long term fortunes is also manifesting itself in Europe . Barcelona,