Not only must the Asian city of the future be functional — with adequate infrastructure and the ability to foster economic growth — but it must be a desirable place to live as it competes for business and residents.

In past epochs, urban location and development were usually geographically determined, and much still will be. That is, businesses needed to be near ports, transportation hubs or resources. If a city were smoggy, tangled or coarse mattered less than its location and if money could be made.

But as Asian economies move into a post-industrial and more urbanised phase, technology or service enterprises are inevitably developing — the Samsungs, Infosyses, Apples, Amazons