Since 2000, China’s GDP grew from just under US$1.2 trillion to just under $7.3 trillion in 2011. In the process it has become the EU’s second largest trading partner (from US$ 100 billion to US$600 billion in trade between 2001 and 2011). No wonder the “Cities of Opportunity” study released earlier this month by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City found Beijing and Shanghai rising to top-five status among global leading cities in the categories of economic clout and city gateway.

Now that the last medal has been awarded, the crowds have gone home and the stadium lights have been extinguished, what will determine if the 2012 London Olympics were truly a success will be the legacy the Games leave behind for the U.K. According to market intelligence firm Euromonitor, an estimated £25 billion (US$39 billion) was spent preparing London for the Games, including stadium construction, regeneration, infrastructure projects and marketing — is this money well spent?

Known for the exploits of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great, among others, the capital city of Tatarstan now aims to make a name for itself as an international business hub. But first you have to find it on the map.

KONE, a Finnish maker of escalators and elevators is flowing people in various directions in the Quad Cities municipality of Moline, Ill., where the company and its partners in August celebrated the grand opening of the nearly $40-million KONE Centre on the Mississippi River waterfront.