What is the importance of the city in the novel, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia?

The city is one of many in rising Asia that are the way of the future. Western investment in these cities is heavy, and an ascendant population looks to thrive. However, only a handful of people make it into the most elite upper classes. The middle classes expand greatly. The working classes shoulder the dangerous jobs and difficult jobs. The city is where dreams are possible. It is where you become your own employer as the manufacturer of bottled water, while the pretty girl becomes a famous model. The city, as it prospers and grows, becomes divided into good, wealthy, and elite sections, and bad, poor, and dangerous sections. You come to live in a gated, guarded mansion in a gated, guarded community within the city, and there spend the final good years of your life prior to the failure of your business.