According to the 3rd edition of Tech Cities (Tech City) by Savills Global Research Department, New York is the worlds leading technology hub with a green environment, human resources, lifestyle and convenient transportation connections to become a top destination for companies headquarters. Followed by New York are San Francisco, London, Amsterdam and Boston; these cities are in the top 5 global technology cities.
In addition, six Chinese cities have made their mark: On average, over the past three years, Beijing has received $34 billion in annual adventure capital - higher than New York and San Francisco.
Savills' 2019 Technology City Rankings:
Savills defines the technology city as an important technology hub in the region; receiving a large flow of venture capital; one of the locations where global technology companies plan to expand to in the future; a vibrant city for living and working; a place to train and attract talent.
Savills' index assesses the factors that make a successful technology city according to 100 separate criteria, from the number of days required to start a business to the cost of a cup of flat white coffee.
These criteria are divided into 6 main groups: Business environment, technology environment, level of vibration and health of the city, human resources, real estate costs and level of convenience in travel. Each group of criteria is weighted according to the importance of that group of criteria to the technology field.
Its interesting that the rankings show New York has taken the lead this year, surpassing previous champion San Francisco, where rental costs for cozy work are rising. One of the most interesting trends we have seen in the past two years is the rise of technology cities in China.
Although almost only ranked in the middle of the table, these cities are currently attracting more venture capital (VC) than cities in the United States. From 2012 to present, the proportion of venture capital invested in cities in the United States out of a total of 30 technology cities has decreased from 40% to 28%; also during that period, this proportion of cities in China increased from 11% to 36%.
Although Beijing is the largest source of venture capital, we rank Shanghai higher because it is considered a more world-class technology city, thanks to factors such as an international business environment and better quality of life for residents, said Paul Tostevin, Deputy Director of Global Research Group of Savills, and senior research expert of the technology city publication.
