Research reveals: London and New York 'will remain world's top cities'

London came out top of the tree in three of the four categories that were applied to assess the world's cities and London was described as the 'top city for investment'

Both London and New York will endure as the most important world cities for affluent people over the next ten years, research implies.

However, the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai are seen by the rich as the most important up-and-coming cities.

The "Wealth Report" was compiled by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank and their research also observed the "relentless shift" in wealth towards the Asia Pacific.

The report also calculated that the number of people worth £63m ($100m) would grow by 40% by 2016.

London was classified top in three of the four classifications on which the world's cities were judged in the report and they were quality of life, knowledge and influence, and economic power.

Washington DC came top in the last category which was of political power, London coming second in that area.

Monaco continues to be the most expensive residential location, with a square metre valued at about £37k, followed by Cap Ferrat, London and Hong Kong.

The survey epitomizes the attitudes of more than 4,000 wealthy people worth an average of more than $100m.