At the heart of every emerging economy are the dynamic cities powering their rapid development; Across Asia, many of these enterprising cities have become home to large clusters of business services, engineering, finance and retail firms, along with strong creative industries.

From Bangalore in India to Shenzhen in China, they’re held in high regard domestically and are now turning their attention to building their profile on the international stage to draw in the companies and talent who will drive their future growth.

Jeremy Kelly, Director of Global Research at JLL, says: “Increasingly, cities in emerging economies are becoming key hubs in global networks of innovation – referred to as ‘Enterprisers’. This group of business and enterprise hubs are major places of opportunity and magnets to workers from their nation and the wider region. Usually specialized in higher-value activities, as well as manufacturing, they are among the largest cities in their national economy and have exploited their business climate advantages in recent years.”

As such, they’ve been among the world’s most dynamic real estate markets in recent years and are increasingly on the radar of international real estate investors.

Yet despite their rapid growth, the Enterprisers are also facing a unique set of challenges as they aim to boost productivity and innovation to take their economies to the next level, whether ensuring a strong local talent pipeline, making their land usage more efficient or strengthening their city brand and successfully projecting it to the wider world.

So which Asian cities make the cut to join the ‘Enterprisers’ group and where do their opportunities lie?

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