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about Asia Buzz
Culture on Demand: World Class Cities
Where do you work and play?
By STAN STALNAKER
June 3, 2000
Web posted at 5 a.m. Hong Kong time, 5 p.m. EDT
For a few weeks now, an interesting conversation has been brewing around my new favorite question. It's grown into a wonderful dinner party icebreaker and I've come to rely on it to help me through tedious evenings with people who less than impress. It's not as funny as my new favorite brunch/cafe game: "Who would you rather ...," but it does hold the interest.
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It starts with a simple question (in two parts), best asked to individuals with unpredictable tendencies: "What are the top five cities for work?" and "What are the top five cities for play?" The question begs a fuller description, yes I know, but the criterion are fairly obvious. It's actually a harder question than I originally thought, because after nearly a month, I'm only convinced of four world cities and am utterly confused about the fun ones.
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First, the listings. Feel free to reply with your rants--I won't necessarily listen, but perhaps someone will make a good point and influence the final results of the first Culture on Demand Work & Play Guide, out now, but subject to historical revision.
The Work Guide: Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York and Tokyo.
These cities are not ranked in order, and in my humble opinion, one on the list (Paris) could almost be replaced with the Chiang Mai Regent. It's not a city, but its damn good hotel, where you can work the WAP, baby! The entirely objective list comes from fleeting conversations about which city has the best sushi, the likelihood of a conference call including a participant from that city, and "hubbiness." Hubbiness (think hub) is a function of a complicated mathematical algorithm that goes something like this: No. of flights + gates x airlines you've never heard of divided by the number of Starbucks and udon noodle shops = hubby factor. Despite faults in each place, these cities remain the center of the action.
The Play Guide: Bangkok, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Sydney and Tel Aviv.
Here things get more difficult. This is entirely subjective--but the idea here is that these are not places you live in because your hyper-successful cancer-causing career is your priority. These are places that offer a little edge and an attitude that makes you wonder, "just what the hell is going on around here." They're a little quirky, and most people either love 'em or hate 'em.
Now, it would be easy to detail why these places are what they are, but no explanation really works because you probably read Conde Nast and have the Hot List memorized. Tragic, but that's how it is. Or it's just not relevant, whichever the case may be.
Send your votes--the Culture Crew is curious to see what you're thinking--to the message board on this page.
As for the Next Big Things? My work money is on Shanghai. Play? Athens baby!
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