The cities leading the way in AI – and other advanced, research-intensive innovations such as quantum computing, nanotechnology and biotech – are enjoying a significant economic boost. Our Savills Deep Tech Index analyses the top 15 cities where real estate markets are already benefiting from this growth.
Savills research shows that the economies of these Deep Tech cities have grown 0.9 percentage points a year faster than the countries they are located in over the past decade. Savills expects this trend to continue.
As a result, locations such as San Francisco, New York, the UK’s ‘Golden Triangle’ (London, Oxford and Cambridge), Seoul and Tokyo have seen strong demand for office and laboratory space, as well as increased residential needs from highly skilled workers. In addition, the growing integration of AI into life sciences is expected to boost demand for dry labs for computational work.
San Francisco tops the global ranking
The San Francisco Bay Area tops the index. It is home to major AI companies and associated businesses, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Nvidia. Leasing activity from AI firms has helped San Francisco’s office markets stage a partial recovery, with availability falling from record highs.
The UK’s Golden Triangle strengthens its position
The UK’s Golden Triangle is third in our index. A key global biotech and life sciences hub, it is home to 11 top-ranked universities (QS Global 500), including leading research institutions.
“London has become Europe’s leading Deep Tech hub. The Knowledge Quarter (spanning King’s Cross, Bloomsbury and Euston) is at the forefront, benefiting from clustering with tech firms, proximity to leading institutions such as UCL and the Alan Turing Institute, and an amenity-rich urban setting coupled with strong transport links,” says Tom Mellows, Head of UK Science at Savills. “Demand spans both pure-play AI developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic – which have recently announced new or expanded offices – and a growing cohort of science and tech-related businesses that are utilising AI across areas such as robotics, autonomous vehicles, computing, materials and pharma. The latter in particular are redefining building specifications, driving demand for higher power capacity, on-site data infrastructure, enhanced ventilation and, in some cases, clean room facilities.”
Data centres: Power and location matter
The data centre sector remains heavily concentrated in North America, where public cloud has driven demand since 2012–13. In Europe, most data-centre activity is still very location-driven because the speed of data transmission between users and servers matters. Access to cheap power is also essential, which is why we’re seeing the strongest growth in Spain and Portugal and the Nordics, which offer favourable energy conditions as well as sufficient electricity grid capacity.
