The Next First Tier City: Tianjin? Wuhan?

Tianjin, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu have achieved many of the basic criteria for becoming first-tier cities, while Suzhou, Hefei, Nanjing, Chongqing and Xi'an are close.

The article runs through various criteria, such as population, economy, service sector, transportation links, innovation, prices, etc.
iFeng: 谁会是下个一线城市？天津武汉等四城最有潜力