All the net really does is bring cities closer together. Up until, say, 2001, there was a clear directional flow of information between cities. You could chart

All the net really does is bring cities closer together. Up until, say, 2001, there was a clear directional flow of information between cities. You could chart ideas originating in SF, LA, NY and then spreading to Europe and Asia. It would take about a year for some trend to circumnavigate the world and there was money to be made in leading the charge. The flow is gone now; ideas originate everywhere and flow rapidly from city to city through social networks in a matter of hours. A new pastry shows up in Shanghai on Monday and then becomes available in LA by Thursday and then, thanks to Instagram, explodes across NY, DC, Paris and London that weekend. These major world cities constitute the most important and powerful network on the planet and this network, augmented by social networking, makes each individual city that much more valuable. This is what everybody talking about the death of distance and remote work doesn't get: cities are not about supply, they are about demand. This has been the case since Sumer was founded 7,000 years ago. These are the most desirable markets in the world. If you have something to sell -- including yourself -- and you can create demand in one world city and then drive that demand to other world cities then you will have a money printing machine. Corporations gather in cities because they are in fact the biggest consumers on the planet and they require all types of services -- from legal advice to market research to sophisticated technology -- and the one stop shop to buy these goods -- along with every other good -- is a world city.