Cities fail similarly—boarded-up businesses, empty houses and streets—but they succeed differently. Each metropolis has its own style and appearance: some crowded and messy, others tidy; some multicultural, others ethnically unified; each boasts unique cuisine, art, and cultural sensibilities. All successful urban centers, however, have in common talented workforces and opportunities that form a path up from poverty.

The best cities attract talent in different ways. Hong Kong and Singapore have a competent governance and a free marketplace; Boston, Minneapolis, and Atlanta offer quality universities; Paris and Dubai offer myriad pleasures; Chicago and Houston encourage construction and, with it, competitive housing costs.

Tokyo, capital of a highly centralized government and economy—“Washington and New York rolled into one” (226)—attracts corporations that want access to power. The city draws from Japan’s highly educated and skilled workforce to make it an economic showpiece. Downtown is dense and tall, and the city has excellent mass transit.

Hong Kong and Singapore grew up as independent trading ports. In 1965, Singapore became an independent nation under the strict, rule-of-law leader Lee Kuan Yew, who, over the next 40 years, coaxed a tiny, resource-poor, crowded country into one of the wealthiest cities on the planet.