A lot of thought has been put into the habits and desires of the world’s wealthiest people.
Luxury estate agent Knight Frank and Wealth-X, the research firm that concentrates on high net worth individuals, just released their comprehensive annual report on where they’re buying property and how much it costs them.
They concentrate on ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UNHWI), those with over $30 million (£24 million) in assets, to create an index of the most important cities for the super-rich.
The index is based on factors such as the the current population of ultra-wealthy, the total amount of private investment in property during 2016, how many inbound and outbound first and business class flights the city had, and the potential to grow numbers of the the super rich in 10 years.
Asian cities, such as Shanghai and Tokyo, are quickly rising through the ranks.
Here are the top 14 cities that made the cut:
14. Seoul – The South Korean capital might not be the most connected city for the wealthy, but it ranks as the 12th in the world for its prospects attracting the super rich in the next 10 years.
13. Frankfurt – The German financial capital could be the one to benefit most from Brexit by stripping London of its role of the European Union's centre of high finance.
12. Paris — France's capital has slipped out of the top 10, but still manages to maintain its position as the second highest European city in the index.
11. Sydney — Sydney's real estate investment scene is booming, taking the city to fourth in the world, but it scores lower for current wealth concentration and connectivity.
10. Chicago – The city in the US mid-west is beginning to attract more interest in real estate investments, coming in at number nine globally.
9. Tokyo – The Japanese capital scores highly for connectivity, coming in fifth, but years of sluggish growth have taken their toll on property investment, for which the city is 12th.
8. Beijing — China's capital is the fourth best-connected city for the ultra rich, according to the report, and comes in fifth for future prospects.
7. San Francisco – While San Francisco ranks a lowly 12th for connectivity, it is fourth for the concentration of super rich thanks to a boom in technology investment.
6. Singapore — The island nation is small but powerful on the world's stage. It is boosted by its position as a stepping stone to the rest of Asia and has excellent flight connections to the West.
5. Los Angeles — The city on the US west coast is a new entrant, displacing Dubai from the upper levels of the overall ranking. Los Angeles comes in third for real estate investment.
4. Shanghai — Shanghai rises two places to fourth in this year's list, after concerns about the Chinese economic slow down eased in 2016.
3. Hong Kong — Hong Kong boasts a huge expat community and is home to the third largest concentration of individuals worth more than $30 million in the world.
2. New York — The city narrowly misses out on the top spot, despite coming top for current wealth and projected numbers of future UHNWIs calling New York home.
1. London — The prime location for flight connections, the ease of doing business, and favourable political conditions for the rich make London the top city for the wealthy for another year.
