Getting the essentials right

The top functioning tech cities succeed in offering a set of fundamental benefits for the coding classes.

The flat white has long considered the essential caffeinated beverage by many a young, hip urbanista. The vegan burger is rapidly obtaining the same status when it comes to food; a healthier alternative to a traditional burger with a lower environmental footprint to boot.

The presence of cafes that do these things well can be a barometer of a city’s functioning as a tech city. Cafes serve as a place for meetings, chance encounters and networking. They are important to everyone from the lone start-up entrepreneur through to the venture capitalist.

Add to that other essentials for the coding classes: a MacBook, fast broadband, flex office space, a clean and healthy environment, as well as some classic trainers and premium, wireless headphones, and you have the Savills Digital Nomad Essentials Index. This index can be used to identify the locations that may be most desirable to tech talent and therefore the occupiers looking to recruit such employees.

Seven of the top ten cities in this index are what we class as Tech Lifestyle Cities or Rising Tech Global Contenders. It is no coincidence that these are smaller cities by global standards. City living on a small footprint allows easier access to amenities and a better work/life balance, usually coupled with lower cost of living, but with all the ‘buzz’ of larger urban centres. The fact that these locations have better air quality only underscores their appeal in today’s world.

Melbourne tops this index, a city located in the country that claims to have invented the flat white (although Kiwis may argue otherwise). This healthy city also offers access to plenty of outdoor pursuits, coupled with good tech infrastructure. Eindhoven, second, is one of our Rising Global Tech Contenders. The Hovenring, the world’s first floating cycle suspension bridge, sets the tone for the city’s environmental credentials. Costs are lower than its northern neighbours, particularly for flexible office space.

Lower-cost cities make an impact here. Established tech centres face rising cost pressures. Detroit, Bogota, Tallinn and Manchester are, among others, all earlier on the curve as tech hubs and still retain a significant cost advantage.

What is 'tech' today?

In an era where every industry is ‘tech’ to some degree, all cities across the globe are being touched by the trends that shape it. Here we focus on the hubs of software and the online world. Online business has proved particularly disruptive to the global hierarchy of cities. Untethered to traditional drivers of the industry, anyone with an idea, a laptop and an internet connection has the capability to create businesses worth multimillions. In Savills Tech Cities we identify the locations these individuals want to be.