Why did they change the location of Akira in the remake?

As described on IMDB site, the Akira remake:

Set in New-Manhattan a city rebuilt with Japanese money, the story focuses on two biker friends. Further plot is not known at this time.

My issue is not with non-Asian actors (but I kid you not if Robert Patterson takes one of the roles for this movie I will be disappointed in Hollywood, _{Even though I already am}), my issue is with the reason why Akira worked. It worked (for me) because I liked the Tokyo setting

• Post war experiences


• Post atomic bomb experiences


• Overpopulation


• Daily economic struggle

These items can be seen in a few old anime movies

Now it is being moved to New York of which if anything that this will be relatable to would be 9/11 or an alternate reality where the crime rate reaches uncontrollable levels like in Escape from New York. The dystopia for New York just doesn't really seem to fit the bill. Which by all means is not a problem, so why not change the name from Akira?

I've seen in the past how Hollywood takes something and turns it into nothing, but that's okay, the goal is to make money. I just want to know why and how are they going to spin Akira, a movie that dictates anime direction for all anime of the past decade to a location where dubbed movies are favored over subtitles. Even taking into account that North America is English speaking, it still does not explain the need to change location. The point was to show the culture within Tokyo and how crappy it can be for the characters.

So could someone please tell me how will this work for a place like New York?