I’m a bit late on this, but Superfuture (“urban fundamentals for global shopping experts”) is now offering Superfuture Superguides, which amount to 30-page PDF guides to various cities. Going for $20, these are public versions of reports the site has been producing for private clients for years now, and they will be updated on a monthly basis. They have 2 editions now, one for Tokyo and New York, with more cities planned (Shanghai and Beijing will be next).