With the opening of a nearby residential development, complete with a whole host of leisure facilities, Special Economic Zone Alabuga is hoping to strengthen its appeal to foreign investors.

While Johannesburg remains way out in front when it comes to African international finance centres, competition is emerging in Casablanca, Lagos and Rwanda. And though reputational issues may dog much of the continent, it would seem that South Africa will not have everything its own way in the coming years.

Far from the Kremlin's corridors of power, Russia's second-tier cities are striving to transform themselves. fDi looks at how the Russian cities of Tomsk, Rostov-on-Don and Tula are trying to attract investors amid geopolitical uncertainty in the region.

After a hugely successful 2013, expectations are high for the real estate sector in the Russian cities of Moscow and St Petersburg. However, unlike previous booms in the country, this particular building frenzy is largely being driven by foreign companies drawn in by Russia's rapidly growing middle class.

Investors are looking beyond Romanian capital Bucharest to cities such as Timisoara, Cluj Napoca, Brasov and Constanta, and finding growing economies, skills and business capacity. 

The real estate sector took a pounding in 2013, with record lows forecast for foreign investment on a global scale. But on a regional level, the Asia-Pacific is seeing increased investment in the sector in what is thought to be an emerging trend.  

With real estate space at an astronomical premium in the traditional centre of New York City – Manhattan – investors are looking over the river to Brooklyn, which a wave of new developments is transforming into the next big location.

Vast business parks with leisure and residential areas attached to airports are becoming increasingly prominent throughout Europe, driven by companies wanting fast access to international markets, and cities keen to attract these multinational firms.