Tech City Tiers: Tech Lifestyle Cities

Tech Lifestyle Cities offer city living on a smaller footprint. This means shorter journeys for work and play (often by bike), contributing to a better work-life balance – all without sacrificing the buzz of a larger urban centre. Talent magnets, Tech Lifestyle Cities centres punch well above their weight on a global stage.

Historically cheaper than their Megacity counterparts, some of that cost advantage has eroded in recent years as competition for talent has driven up salaries and costs of living have risen.

But they have one major advantage in today’s environment. Our analysis shows they have, in most cases, superior air quality, contributing to a better quality of life for residents than the Tech Megacities (see chart).

Eight of 11 Tech Lifestyle Cities have more than 100sqm of greenspace per capita, while Berlin, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam each have more than 500sqm of greenspace per person, according to OECD data. Melbourne, Barcelona, and Denver offer direct access to beaches or mountains. Denver is within touching distance of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado has been named America’s ’thinnest state’, in no small part because of the outdoor pursuits accessible to it. Factors such as these underpin their attractiveness to mobile tech talent.

Given that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to many people purportedly looking to prioritise a better standard of living going forward, a strong performance here may indicate may indicate a city’s further growth in the years ahead. Denver, for example, has been a beneficiary of tech talent moving out of the San Francisco Bay Area looking for comparatively lower cost living, but with all the benefits of the outdoors on its doorstep. Tech companies in the Lifestyle cities can offer their staff healthier environments and better affordability, with high levels of in-migration supporting future expansion. These benefits must be set against rising costs, a product of their own success.