It's 2007, and the look and feel of the decade is in full swing. The idea behind the hub zeitgeist ranking is that at certain times in certain places, there is a veritable "center of the universe" a place where innovation, change and vibe combine to create the place of the moment. Earlier we looked at this from a historical perspective as we prepared our first ranking of hubs and their impact on hub culture. Yes, its arbitrary, and no its not scientific, but it does reflect a combination of influences on a global basis. It does not reflect ultimate power or coolness, but some combination that reflects "right now" better than anywhere. Presenting the 2007 Hub Zeitgeist List:

Hub Culture's 2007 Zeitgeist Ranking
1. Los Angeles

A controversial choice? Sure it's big, but LA is finally hitting on all cylinders: fashion, tech, entertainment, and overall groove. American Apparel is changing fashion with vertically integrated manufacturing. LA's skull and bones indie rock fashion dominates globally. Myspace culture is taken for granted, everywhere. New walking areas and urban regeneration projects, from downtown to Malibu to Hollywood, make the city much more palatable than before, despite the endless crush of traffic. Entourage and other shows, from the OC to Laguna Beach, have moved the collective consciousness west. All in this and more help make LA the city of the moment: the energy is positive, its power is on the rise, and people everywhere have LA on their mind.

In the same way that the hub 100s track this across culture, this list measures that vibe within hubs. We start from approx 25 years ago, with Warhol and the Factory, a spiritual wellspring of the hub view and the birth of "contemporary":

1978-1983 - New York City

The age of Andy Warhol's Factory and the heydey of New York's cultural influence on America. This time before the Disneyfication of the City, where grit and creativity, along with Wall Street's three martini lunch, laid the foundations for the predominant identity of the 80s.

1983-1988 - Tokyo

Capped by the bursting of Japan's economic bubble, this period of western geishas, SONY and the Rising Sun, a city of soaring rent prices and the emergence of Harajuku and other areas of Tokyo has global style centers. As the financial capital of Asia, it is the most international of cities and a new global capital.

1989-1993 - London

Benefiting from the end of the Cold War, Cool Brittania takes shape in London and the City begins to bloom as a global financial center. Fashion comes to London, with London Fashion Week taking off and the emergence of Brit bad boys, from Damian Hirst to Julian McDonald, place the moment here.

1994-1997 - Hong Kong

As Hong Kong gears up for the handover in 1997, the economic clout of Asia moves here following the bursting of Japan's bubble. An emergent China fuels growth and optimism, and everything China still flows through Hong Kong, making it the center of operations for a fascinated world. It is the global group of young people that fill the city who create its energy, opportunity is everywhere and so is the cash... even into the Asian Financial Crisis.

1997-2000 - San Francisco

As the tech boom and the internet hit full speed, San Francisco is the place to be. From outrageous rents to the dot-com of the moment, San Francisco, the sock puppet and nearby Silicon Valley own the moment.

2000-2001 - Sydney

A brief moment in the sun is bookended by the Olympics and Sydney's booming real estate markets. A growing sense that the world is small pervades, and Sydney's distance personifies this ideal. Cut short by the events of Sept. 11, when global travel shriveled. Good times and clean living extravagance dominate, and no place personified that better than down under.

2002-2005 - Las Vegas/Miami

A joint mantle? The operative word here is bling, and no place captured the rise of Britney and the shimmer of J.Lo like Vegas and Miami. World poker tours, pop trash, Hummers and gold hoops were made for South Beach and the Strip, and both locations helped make the moment.

Now?

It's safe to safe that bling is behind us, and "the eclectic" has firmly taken root in hub culture. The key influences are shifting - art is the new fashion, indie is in, and there's a darker edge to everything that vaguely reflects the coke-fueled 80s.

Any last minute suggestions for where should claim the mantle now? Email us at info at hubculture.com, and look for the rankings of the top 20 hubs for right now from January 1st.