“当他们沦落的时候，我们向高处走。”前美国第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马在美国充满传奇的城市费城召开的2016年民主党大会上宣布。

在香港这里，如今这句令人难忘的对比句提醒我的，不是曾经政治选举的丑陋，更多的是这座城市引人注目的天际线之美丽。在亚洲，比以往更高的摩天大楼不断出现，中国大大小小城市里的开发商尤其接受了美国那种要建造高楼大厦的梦想。

诚然，当华盛顿新政府致力于重建美国的时候，前第一夫人说的话也同样适用，只不过在美中两国它有不同的、经济上的语境。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普对摩天大楼肯定不陌生。纽约第五大道的特朗普大厦可以说是世界上最著名的所在之一。在建成世界上第一座摩天大楼的芝加哥市，2009年落成的特朗普国际酒店大厦是这座城市第二高已竣工建筑物，也是美国第四高建筑物。

很久以前，美国就把世界最高建筑物的头衔让给了亚洲和中东。世界高层建筑与都市人居学会（CTBUH）的数字显示，世界已竣工的十座最高建筑物当中，如今有七座在亚洲。这个总部位于芝加哥的非盈利组织创建于1969年，它维护的“摩天大楼中心”（The Skyscraper Center）是一个有关全球最高建筑物的数据库。

根据“摩天大楼中心”的数据，截至2017年3月，世界最高建筑物是迪拜2717英尺的哈利法塔、2073英尺的上海中心大厦和沙特麦加1972英尺的麦加皇家钟塔饭店。第四位是纽约1776英尺的世界贸易中心一号大厦，香港则拥有世界第八高建筑物——环球贸易广场。在东南亚，吉隆坡的石油双塔、越南的京南河内地标大厦和曼谷近期完工的曼谷楼的高度都超过了1000英尺。

中国和亚洲的城市正以飞快的速度向四周和高处发展。这种建设热潮很可能持续下去。世界银行2015年发表的一份报告预计，未来几十年将迎来城市的增长。尽管21世纪前十年，已有近2000万人迁入亚洲的城市，但该地区的城市化程度可能还会越来越高。

但宜居的城市所需要的不仅仅是摩天大楼。民众、街道生活和建筑物底层的街坊们不应该被丢弃在新的发展阴影里。这一直是特别重要的问题，因为从香港到曼谷，亚洲的城市规划者们正慢慢地赶走街头小贩、街边裁缝和鞋匠、小推车和食品货车。随着城市越建越高，他们必须牢记宜居的三个重要基本点：社区、弹性和可持续性。

首先，社区必须放在城市发展的中心位置。城市规划者必须考虑的不只是城市设计的影响以及新的交通效率或停车位建设，还要考虑不平等问题和人类的生活。

在追求房地产回报最大化的同时，开发商还必须引入公共的开放空间，营造社区归属感，改善街道生活，鼓励社会化互动。理想的社区培育应当涵盖各行各业、各种收入阶层的人。

其次，城市建设必须有弹性。一个社会或城市拥有社会包容性，有强大的社区纽带，那么这座城市也会具有弹性。洛克菲勒基金会“100座弹性城市”倡议所定义的城市弹性，是指城市所拥有的生存、适应和增长能力，无论它经历什么样的压力或打击。

除了摩天大楼，城市必须建立全方位的安全和法治、高效的公共卫生系统、包容性的住房与劳工政策、多样化的交通运输网络，以及有效地提供紧急服务。在这里，私人部门，包括保险和再保险公司，将与政府政策共同发挥必要的作用，为弹性建设创造有利的环境。

第三，城市发展方式应该是在环境上可持续的。随着越来越多的人涌入城市，应对环境挑战已经日渐成为一个城市问题。即使不是“智能城市”，对较智能城市的建设来说，在基建、能源和交通运输等领域纳入创新与技术也是至关重要的。同样重要的是来自公共、私人和非盈利部门的贡献。

衡量一座城市的成功有许多方式。在米尔肯学会（我是这家无党派经济智库的创始亚洲研究员），我们的研究人员自1999年以来利用一套全面的、基于事实的标准，排列出了全美国200个大城市和201个小城市，作为年度表现最佳城市指数的组成部分。

这个基于经济成果的指数主要侧重于就业、工资和技术的增长。更多的主观指标，如生活质量、生活成本，并没有计入在内。

过去一年，技术仍然是高排名的推手，因为擅长创新城市的指数再次登顶，加州硅谷的圣何塞连续第二年排名第一。米尔肯学会一份类似的中国表现最佳城市排名，是基于官方公布的经济、就业、工资增长、外国直接投资及其他数据，其结果是上海、贵阳和舟山排名领先。

当然，不是所有城市都拥有硅谷的城市或上海那种得天独厚的资源，而即使这些地方也面临越来越大的自然、社会、经济挑战，这是日益城市化的21世纪的一部分。

但在今天，在全球城市景观变化的多样性当中，有一点应该获得一致认同。宜居、动感和充满生机的城市比任何数量的摩天大楼——不管它们多么雄伟多么高——都更能证明国家的繁荣与政策的成功。随着美国与中国的城市越建越高，其背后所坚守的东西才是最重要的。

“When they go low, we go high.” So declared former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2016 Democratic Party convention in the storied American city of Philadelphia.

From here in Hong Kong, that memorable turn of phrase reminds me today less of the ugliness of past political campaigns, and more of the beauty of this city's striking skyline. In Asia, the march of ever-higher skyscrapers goes on, with developers in big and small cities in China in particular embracing that American dream to build high.

Indeed, those same words from the former First Lady have relevance – in a different, economic context in both the United States and China – as a new Administration in Washington focuses on rebuilding America.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump is certainly no stranger to skyscrapers. Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York is arguably one of the most famous addresses in the world. In Chicago – site of the world's first skyscraper – the Trump International Hotel & Tower, completed in 2009, is the second tallest completed building in that city, and the fourth tallest in the United States.

The United States long ago ceded the title of world's tallest building to Asia and the Middle East. Seven of the top 10 tallest completed buildings in the world are now in Asia, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. This Chicago-headquartered not-for-profit organization founded in 1969 maintains The Skyscraper Center, a database on the world's tallest buildings.

As of March 2017, the world's tallest buildings are the Burj Khalifa in Dubai at 2717 feet, the Shanghai Tower in China at 2073 feet and the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, at 1972 feet, according to the Skyscraper Center. Coming in at number four is 1 World Trade Center in New York at 1776 feet. Hong Kong boasts the eighth tallest building – the International Commerce Center. In Southeast Asia, the tallest buildings are Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers; the Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower, in Vietnam; and Bangkok's recently completed MahaNakhon tower – all at more than 1000 feet tall.

Cities in China and across Asia are growing outwards and upwards at breakneck speed. This construction boom is likely to continue, according to a report from the World Bank in 2015 that forecast decades of urban growth to come. Despite almost 200 million people already having moved to Asia's cities in the first decade of the 21st century, the region's ongoing urbanization is likely only to intensify.

Livable cities, however, need more than skyscrapers. The people, the street life, and the neighborhoods at the bottom of the buildings must not be lost in the shadows of new development. That remains a particularly critical point as city planners across Asia, from Hong Kong to Bangkok, slowly push out street vendors, street-side tailors and cobblers, push carts and food trucks.As cities build taller, they must keep three key benchmarks for livability in mind – community, resilience and sustainability.

First, communities must be put at the heart of urban development. Urban planners must consider not only the impact of a city's design and new construction on traffic efficiency or parking spaces, but also on inequality and on human lives.

Amidst the rush to maximize real estate returns, developers must also incorporate public, open spaces to build a sense of community, cultivate street life and encourage social interaction.And that fostering of community should ideally include people from all walks of life and income levels.

Second, cities must build in resilience.A society or city that is socially inclusive and with strong community bonds leads to a city that is also resilient. An initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation, 100 Resilient Cities, defines urban resilience as the capacity to survive, adapt and grow no matter the stresses or shocks they experience.

Beyond skyscrapers, cities must build in comprehensive security and rule of law, effective public health systems, inclusive housing and labor policies, and diverse transport networks, as well as effective delivery of emergency services. Here, the private sector, including insurance and reinsurance companies, will play a necessary role along with government policies to encourage an enabling environment for resilience.

And third, cities need to grow in an environmentally sustainable manner.With more and more people moving into cities, tackling environmental challenges is already increasingly an urban issue. Incorporating innovations and technologies in areas such as infrastructure, energy and transport will be essential to building smarter if not “smart cities.” Here again, the contributions and coming together of public, private and not-for-profit sectors will be important.

There are many ways to measure a city's success. At the Milken Institute, where I serve as that non-partisan economic think tank's inaugural Asia Fellow, our researchers since 1999 have used a comprehensive, fact-based set of criteria to rank 200 large and 201 small metros across the United States as part of an annual Best-Performing Cities index.

The economic outcomes-based index heavily weights growth in employment, wages and technology. More subjective metrics such as quality-of-life and cost-of-living are not included.

This past year, tech still drove the top rankings as cities that exceled in innovation again topped the index, with San Jose, California, in Silicon Valley, claiming the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row. A similar Milken Institute Best Performing Cities China list based on official Chinese economic, jobs, wage growth, foreign direct investment and other data singled out Shanghai, Guiyang, and Zhoushan as top performers.

Certainly, not all cities are blessed with the resources that Silicon Valley's urban areas or Shanghai have as they too face the growing physical, social and economic challenges that are a part of an increasingly urbanized 21st century.

But today, amidst the diversity of the world's changing urban landscapes, on one point there should be agreement.Livable, dynamic and vibrant cities are greater testament to a country's prosperity and policy successes than any number of skyscrapers, no matter how big or how tall. As cities in America and China build higher, it is what is sustained below that will matter most.