High buildings, low taxes

The real estate consultancy Knight-Frank maintains a Global Cities index that ranks cities based on how much they appeal to the wealthy. It puts Singapore third, behind only London and New York, and predicts that it will keep a high position all the way to 2024.

Western countries might have to change their tune on taxation if they care to keep their wealthiest citizens. Legislation signed into law in the US last year increased both the income tax and capital gains tax for the richest Americans. French president Francois Hollande has backpedalled on his 75% “millionaire tax,” saying that it was “too heavy,” but it remains in place.

Moving to Singapore has allowed for example Mr. Saverin and his peers to reduce their tax bills: Singapore has no capital gains tax and offers a much lower individual tax rate than Western countries, especially for wealthy people. Saverin also gets to avoid paying American taxes as a non-resident—the US is one of only two countries that taxes the foreign income of citizens even if they live abroad (the other is Eritrea).

Saving millions in taxes is no doubt appealing to billionaires, but it’s not the only reason they might want to expatriate to Singapore. The country is financially and politically stable; it’s very clean; the education system is great; and it has some of most diverse food options of any Asian city. So unless those rates change, Singapore can probably expect a continued influx of expat billionaires. 

Tokyo is the undisputed champion of mega-cities. With a population of 37.8 million, it dwarves second-place Delhi. The Japanese capital has such a big lead in population that even though it’s expected to lose about half a million people over the next 16 years, it will still be the world’s biggest metropolis in 2030, according to a new report by the United Nations:

Some of the other mega-cities on the 2014 list won’t be quite as persisten—by 2030, New York, Osaka, and Sao Paulo will no longer make the top 10, and Mexico City will barely hang on as the sole representative outside of Asia and Africa. This reflects the major shift driven by the urbanization in Asia and Africa, particularly in India (404 million projected new city dwellers by 2030), China (292 million), and Nigeria (212 million).