What better source than Fast Company magazine to list the fastest cities in 2007. Here’s their Fast Cities 2007, with category, city, population and primary reason it’s fast in its respective category:

Creative Class Meccas
Shanghai, China: 14.5M; investment
New York: 18.8M; income per capita
San Francisco Bay Area: 4.2M; technology
Buenos Aires, Argentina: 12.6M; university

Global Villages
Toronto, Canada: 5.1M; diversity/immigration
Johannesburg, South Africa: 3.3M; immigration
Berlin, Germany: 3.4M; immigration

R&D Clusters
Fort Collins, CO: 276K, patents
Seoul, Korea: 9.6M, patents
Raleigh-Durham, NC: 1.6M, college grads

Green Leaders
Chicago, IL: 9.5M, more green roofs than all other cities combined
Stockholm, Sweden (center image): 1.7M, Europe’s least-polluted major city
Portland, OR: 2.5M; most LEED-certified green buildings
Vancouver, Cananda: 2.1M; ‘World’s Most Livable City’

High-Tech Hot Spots
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: 5.1M; 98% of children complete secondary education
Chandigarh, India: 928K; tech exports quadrupled in five years
Boise, ID: 568K; second highest tech GDP growth in the U.S.

Urban Innovators
Curitiba, Brazil: 2.9M, 45% use progressive bus system
Salt Lake City, UT: 1.1M; youngest urban population in the U.S.
Tallinn, Estonia: 399K; 58% use the internet

Culture Centers
Barcelona, Spain: 4.8M; 1500 design studios, 18 design schools
Miami, FL: 5.5M; Wynwood Art District
Dakar, Senegal: 2.5M; International Fashion Week

Unexpected Oases
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 1.3M; one-fifth of the world’s cranes are here
Istanbul, Turkey (topmost image): 9.7M; rising credit rating
Sydney, Australia: 4.3M; world’s third favorite city (London, Paris)

Startup Hubs
Austin, TX (lower image): 1.5M, more wi-fi hot spots per capita than anywhere else
Madison, WI: 543K; University of Wisconsin R&D
Tucson, AZ: 946K; top ten in U.S. in job growth and high tech concentration
London: 8.5M, most IPOs in the world

Check out runners-up here.