I'll start by saying this. In all of Asia, the hottest women are South Korean. There. Understand, this has nothing to do with my admiration of South Korea, what it does, what it has achieved, and its radically disproportionate impact on the global smartphone wars. LG. Samsung. A smartphone friendly government. Amazing broadband and wireless connectivity. Rapid consumer take-up. Oh, and all those wired websites overflowing with Asian script and animated kittens.

That's just my opinion.

According to CNN, they offer 50 reasons why Seoul is the best city:

Welcome to the next generation IT mega-city. In Seoul, you can’t avoid wireless access even if you want to -- a staggering 95 percent of Korean households have broadband connection.

Via NewGeography:

What cities are best positioned to grow and prosper in the coming decade? To determine the next boom towns in the U.S., with the help of Mark Schill at the Praxis Strategy Group, we took the 52 largest metro areas in the country (those with populations exceeding 1 million) and ranked them based on various data indicating past, present and future vitality.

We started with job growth, not only looking at performance over the past decade but also focusing on growth in the past two years, to account for the possible long-term effects of the Great Recession. That accounted for roughly one-third of the score.  The other two-thirds were made up of a a broad range of demographic factors, all weighted equally. These included rates of family formation (percentage growth in children 5-17), growth in educated migration, population growth and, finally, a broad measurement of attractiveness to immigrants — as places to settle, make money and start businesses.

In my CITY RANKINGS, factors that help me score cities for opportunity, prosperity and economic power in the new age of the smartphones include:

• Social infrastructure
• Global connectivity
• Youth (total and %)
• Density (hyperlocal physical connections)
• Smartphone adoption and regulations

PriceWatershouseCoopers (which must be a bitch for the receptionist to say everytime someone calls), released their annual Cities of Opportunities list.

"The successful modern city relies on intelligence and social well-being as much as economic clout—a conclusion that seems not so much to challenge any theory as to confirm common sense," the report said. "New York wins only narrowly, with its real key to success the balance that may have helped it weather the Great Recession."

Yes, I think my list is more accurate.

NewGeography, a site I like, has developed a methodology and compiled a list of "The Best Cities for Jobs" in 2011. 

Somehow, Oakland, California beat out Detroit! Considering that Oakland's mayor, career politician [Something] Brown, was just elected governor of the state, I would suggest you consider re-think your intent to live in the once-golden state.

Rankings are based on recent growth trends, mid-term growth and long-term growth and momentum. We also broke down rankings by size — small, medium and large — since regional economies differ markedly due to their scale.

But no place displayed more vibrancy than Texas. The Lone Star State dominated the three size categories, with the No. 1 mid-sized city, El Paso (No. 3 overall, up 22 places from last year) and No.1 large metropolitan area Austin (No. 6 overall), joining Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood (the No. 1 small city) atop their respective lists.

Texas also produced three other of the top 10 smallest regions, including energy-dominated No. 4 Midland, which gained 41 places overall, and No. 10 Odessa, whose economy jumped a remarkable 57 places. It also added two other mid-size cities to its belt: No. 2 Corpus Christi and No. 4 McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission.

Whatever they are drinking in Texas, other states may want to imbibe. California–which boastedzero regions in the top 150–is a prime example. 

Note: As time permits, I rank cities around the world for their ability to survive and thrive in the new economy wrought by smartphones, the mobile web and the nexus of hyperlocal-hyperglobal connectivity. Here: City Rankings

Seoul is one of the great cities of the smartphone wars. Think Paris, World War 1. Without the death and destruction, obviously. Seoul is home to some of the major players in the smartphone wars, like Samsung and LG. It's population are early adopters. It's economy is well-connected and growing.

New Geography takes a look at what is now the world's third largest metro area. It is one of the few cities in the developed world that is both a leader in technology -- and growing, rapidly.

Seoul has become the world's third largest metropolitan area. The jurisdictions making out the metropolitan area, the provincial level municipality of Seoul (which is the national capital), the province of Gyeonggi and the provincial level municipality of Incheon now have a population of approximately 23.6 million people. This is third only to Tokyo – Yokohama, which has a population of approximately 40 million and Jabotabek (Jakarta), which is approaching 30 million. While international metropolitan area population estimates should be taken with a "grain of salt," (Note 1: Metropolitan Areas) the rise of Seoul is nearly unprecedented in the high-income world.

South Korea today has a higher GDP per capita than Spain and New Zealand and less than 10 percent behind the European Union, on which it is gaining quickly. As the capital, the Seoul is a prosperous metropolitan area in a prosperous country. Seoul’s population density is among the highest of the world’s affluent urban areas. With population density of 27,000 people per square mile (10,400 per square kilometer), Seoul ranks second in the high income world among urban areas of more than 5 million people, trailing only Hong Kong, which is more than twice as dense. Thus, Seoul is more than twice as dense as Tokyo-Yokohama, three times as dense as Paris and four times as dense as Los Angeles or Toronto, the densest urban regions in North America.

[Note: I believe that smartphones are eradicating the barriers of distance. However, smartphones are simultaneously elevating the importance of place. This means South Korea, connected with the world, yet brimming with young smartphone users, nearly tripping over one another, should become a leader in future technologies and platforms. If not, something is wrong with how Asia functions.]

The smartphone and the "smart social mobile web" are remaking culture, power, opportunity, work, play and wealth. The smartphone is rapidly destroying old technologies and habits, reshaping economic power centers, exposing rifts between young and old and empowering the disconnected. We need a way of assessing these changes, and keeping score. This is why I rank:

• smartphones
• technologies (those that will succeed, those that will perish in the smartphone wars)
• cities
• leaders (all stars)

The ranking methodology is summarized below.

NOTE: Not every city or smartphone, for example, can be reviewed. Thus, while a higher score is good (e.g. smartphone score of 30 is better than 28, say), there may be a smartphone or city or technology that I have not yet reviewed that could theoretically garner a higher score. This is not like a 'Top 10' list, say. 

Smartphone Rankings

• Smartphone rankings are designed to help you quickly sort through numerous smartphone options and guide you to a great smartphone choice based on your unique needs and preferences. This matrix also serves as a repository for other smartphone reviews.

  Scores are based on the following highlighted factors, with each assigned a score of 0-5:
  

  • Design: the overall design of the smartphone
    
  • Network: the network(s) reach, reliability, service and cost
    
  • Usability: encapsulating the frequent daily usage of primary features and functions
    
  • Affordability: the total cost of ownership
    
  • Productivity: its potential to support your work, vocation, money-making efforts
    
  • Fun: games and fun
    
  • Content: the availability and depth of digital content, including web, books, videos, television programs and more
    
  • Third Party: the software and apps and their benificence
    
  • Desire: this is that quality that makes each of us covetous, stupid and totally alive

City Rankings

How well is your city positioned for the Smartphone Wars? Talent, money, jobs, wealth, power, training, learning, opportunity -- all these are now fully mobile. I rank cities according to their potential to thrive -- to grow their economy and global influence -- during the smartphone wars and beyond. Rankings are based on nine meta-factors, each with a possible score of 0-5 , with a total potential score of 45.

These nine traceable and global meta factors  are permanently transforming wealth creation, influence, connectivity, learning, jobs and power. These include:

• Smartphone-enabled services an abundance of hyperlocal meeting places supporting hyperglobal connectivity, and favoring the smart, the social and the young. That is the future of successful cities. Old markets, old industries, gatekeeper cities and regions will be irreversibly destroyed. Others will rise up, rapidly, better able to compete in this new world. 
  

Technology Rankings

A technology product/service/platform is assigned a score of 1-5 stars for each trend (see below) that is of critical importance for success in the age of the smartphone. Scores are totaled across all trends to determine a final score. The higher the score the better. A score of 27 or higher means assured success. A score of 18 or less means certain doom.

SMARTPHONE ALL STARS 100

I am compiling a list of the 100 most important and influential people in the global smartphone industry. This is expected to be complete by May 2011.

Methodology

For each factor, a score of 0-5 is awarded. The factors are:

• Rock Star: The name (and brief bio) of the smartphone "rock star".
• Popularity (Industry): The popularity and respect the individual commands in the smartphone industry.
• Popularity (Public): The popularity and respect the individual commands in the public.
• Leadership (Technology): The all-star's leadership in advancing smartphone and mobile web related technologies.
• Leadership (Usage): The all-star's leadership in advancing usage of smartphones and the mobile web.
• Commitment: Their commitment to the smartphone industry and mobile web.
• Accessibility: The increase in access and connectivity around the world the rock star has engendered.
• Innovation: How innovative have they been? What changes in the market and/or technology have they achieved?
• Wealth: Not the amount of wealth they have made. Rather, this represents how much wealth their products/services have generated for users and others.

Because I believe the smartphone and mobile web are remaking the economy, business, culture, power and opportunity, it seems obvious that the smartphone and mobile web will remake our existing economic centers; cities. That's why in 2009, I started a City Rankings effort. But rather than ranking cities based on factors such as wealth or livability, I ranked them on those factors that I thought would enable them to maximize the transformative economic power of the smartphone.

My mother always told me I was special. My mother does not lie. Still, special or not, I"m but one humble blogger. That's why my city rankings have focused on larger cities. There's just not enough time in the day. However, because I wanted to pick one university town, since those are typically the best places to live in the US, I chose Ann Arbor, MI. Just over a year ago, I reviewed the city and it scored a '32'. Which is very good given its size.

All of which is a long way of saying: told you so! Because today I find out that the founders of Groupon, the co-founder of Google and the CEO of Twitter got their start in Ann Arbor. If the city can just keep those people there, it will score even higher in the rankings.

[Okay, confession: I knew that one of the co-founders of Google went to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.]

I typically enjoy travelling and I've travelled to many a major city on this big blue marble. Noting the differences and the potential across cities in part led me to create my own City Rankings matrix. The larger motivation, however, was the onset of the smartphone wars and how this would change cities and their role in the national and global economies. As I've written in the past:

Talent, money, jobs, wealth, power, learning, opportunity -- all are made *mobile* by the smartphone. How can a city attract, retain and grow these, ensuring prosperity and power in a highly global competitive economy?

As I began to notice the immediate impacts of the smartphone wars, and posit how this would remake the global and local economies, it became apparent that, like others have stated, such as Creative Class, that cities would become even more important to their country's economy. In fact, cities would become far more important on the global scene, as well. Most importantly, as the global smartphone wars are fundamentally transforming the economy, this would lead to some cities faltering and some rising. The fewer its great cities, the weaker its cities, the weaker the nation.

What would be core factors that caused a city's potential to rise or fall? Which city could more effectively compete against another? How could city leaders ensure prosperity and relevance for their city? The following seemed most important to me, as they are deeply connected with the mobile web, smartphones, the creation of new wealth, the destruction of old wealth:

• Hyper-global and hyper-local connectivity
• Density (for as smartphones destroy space and time, they create a vacuum in global human connectivity that is countered by remaining in close physical proximity of one another)
• Youth (they will lead the transformation of the new local and global economy)
• Education (for this new world favors the very smart, then the smart and connected, then the smart)
• Social infrastructure and security (financial and physical), as this supports risk-taking, innovation, adaptability and opportunity

And, of course, a non-open, non-innovative, non-competitive wireless Internet will become a serious drag on America's poential.

By creating a ranking tool, my hope has been that others can use this and determine where America's cities are weakest, which cities are best positioned to thrive in a new global economy, which cities must (all the people of America) work on and improve? Because, yes, the globally stronger a city such as San Antonio, Texas is, the stronger all America becomes. The stronger we can make, say, Cleveland, using the full capabilities of the federal government, for example, the better off all America becomes.

I started this process a year ago. Let me say, this has been a rather thankless task. I do it, however, because if America is to prosper and lead both during and after the smartphone wars, America's cities must be able to effectively compete against *all* cities, and especially against *the best* cities aywhere in the world. A year later, an article in Forbes titled A New Era for the City-State? reminded me why I do this:

The city-state, a relic dating back to Classical or Renaissance times, is making a comeback. Driven by massive growth in global trade, shifts in economic power and the rise of emerging ethnic groups, today’s new independent cities have witnessed rapid, often startling, economic growth over the past decade.

In a world where cross-cultural trade remains an ascendant phenomenon, we are likely to see the emergence of an expanding number of city-states over the coming years. Athens, Carthage or Venice may have constituted the great city-states of the past, but the 21st century is likely to  create its own batch  of luxuriant successors.

Smartphone-enabled services, an abundance of hyperlocal meeting places linked with always-on, real-time hyperglobal connectivity, and favoring the smart, the social and the young. That is the future of successful cities. Old markets, old industries, gatekeeper cities and regions will be irreversibly destroyed. Others will rise up, rapidly, better able to compete in this new world.  My city rankings are to be used as a guide and hopefully can help one influential person in each city in the country.

I do this for you, America.