These Are the 26+ Most Technologically Advanced Cities in the World

Updated: Dec 18, 2023By Emma VernerHistory

This article originally appeared on Investing.com. It has been republished here with permission.

Singapore ©/Shutterstock.com

As we continue to be ushered into an increasingly technologically advanced era, it’s important that our cities keep up with the times. As living and breathing entities almost like organisms on their own, we have to ensure that they adapt to change–or else they’ll get left behind.

These cities are at the forefront of this adaptation, diving headfirst into embracing hi-tech solutions, hopefully making the world a better place for everyone, not just their residents. As close to home as Boston and as far away as Seoul, these are the cities that are showing us what the future can look like.

1. Tokyo, Japan

Corporate Headquarters: Mitsubishi, Sony, Toshiba, Seiko
Population: 13.9 million*

Tokyo is an enormous city in Japan and is perhaps synonymous with technological advancement. Its subway system alone is a feat of engineering, with a record 2.3 billion users per year, and efficiently connecting suburbs and outlying areas with the bustling city center.

Shinjuku City Fuji ©INIEO/stock.adobe.com

Tokyo is a pioneer in the world of robotics, with robot waiters and train ticket sellers already in use. It also is on the cutting edge of facial recognition technology, which it used for security purposes during the 2020 Olympics.

2. Montreal, Canada

Corporate Headquarters: Air Canada, Cineflix, Lavalys
Population: 1.78 million*

While perhaps better known for its French speakers and delicious food, Montreal is on the cutting edge of wearable technology. This kind of tech includes VR (virtual reality) headsets, which allow users to feel an entirely customizable immersive experience.

Montreal Biosphere ©R.M. Nunes/stock.adobe.com

Wearable tech can also refer to clothes or jewelry with sensors embedded in them to do everything from collecting fitness data from the wearer’s latest workout to tracking sleep cycles and other important markers of health.

3. San Francisco, California

Corporate Headquarters: Uber, Twitter, DocuSign
Population: 873,000*

San Francisco is the preeminent tech capital of the world. When anyone discusses another tech scene, they’re always referring to it as a “Silicon Valley”–after the first in Palo Alto, in the same metro area like San Francisco.

San Francisco, California ©aiisha/stock.adobe.com

Perhaps it was SF’s revolutionary history, where the turmoil of the 50s, 60s, and 70s came to a head, that inspired the city to upend the world of startups. The list of tech companies born out of the innovative spirit of the Bay Area is a mile long, from Dropbox to Craigslist, Twitch to Yelp.

4. New York, New York

Corporate Headquarters: Pfizer, Blackrock, Squarespace
Population: 9 million*

New York City is its own beast, a massive city with a dog-eat-dog ethos when it comes to business. Because of Wall Street’s prominence in the financial landscape of the city, and the world at large, New York is an especially great location for fintech companies to thrive.

NYC Skyline ©Dell/stock.adobe.com

People who have lived and worked in both the Silicon Valley and New York City tech scenes say that in the latter people are more practical and money-driven, whereas in Silicon Valley you often encounter newbies who are eager to shake up the status quo.

5. Toronto, Canada

Corporate Headquarters: Thomson Reuters, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Population: 2.8 million*

Toronto is a city full of innovation, poised to make waves in the tech world. Not only do they have a world-class public transportation system, but they are also home to 30% of all of Canada’s information technology companies.

Toronto, Canada ©Artem Zavarzin/Shutterstock.com

Toronto is also home to several Canadian headquarters of American tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. It also has an outpost of Cisco’s Innovation Lab, a hotbed for startup creation and tech revolution.

6. Hong Kong, China

Corporate Headquarters: Cathay Pacific, Pacsafe, DBS Bank
Population: 7.5 million*

Hong Kong is one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world, which is entirely by design. The city’s government has invested lots of money into the tech sector, and infrastructure, with the city boasting incredibly fast WiFi speeds.

Hong Kong, China ©gyn9037/Shutterstock.com

It hosts a thriving start-up culture, mainly in fields like artificial intelligence and smart city, which is a city that uses sensors and other means of collecting data to improve the experience of its inhabitants.

7. Stockholm, Sweden

Corporate Headquarters: Electrolux, Ericsson, Loomis
Population: 975,550*

Stockholm might conjure images of an old Sweden, but it’s actually a technology hub ushering Scandinavia into the future. The city is at the forefront of music and gaming technology and is even where Spotify got its start.

Stockholm, Sweden ©Maykova Galina/Shutterstock.com

In addition, Stockholm is on a mission to go entirely cash-free by 2023 and is already most of the way there. Businesses are already allowed to reject cash payments due to a unique law, and the nation even has its own cryptocurrency.

8. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Corporate Headquarters: ING, Booking.com, Heineken
Population: 1.16 million*

Amsterdam is a thriving tech hub amongst a beautiful centuries-old city along with an intricate canal system. Due to its business-friendly tax status, it has become one of the centers of startup culture for all of Europe.

Amsterdam, Netherlands ©JesusmGarcia/stock.adobe.com

It is home to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), a neutral and non-profit data transport hub that has at many points since its inception been the largest in the world. Tech giants like Uber also have their European headquarters in the city.

9. Copenhagen, Denmark

Corporate Headquarters: Mærsk, Pandora
Population: 1.36 million*

Copenhagen has long been at the forefront of modern design, so it’s no surprise that it would be on the cutting edge of the technological world as well. These days, Copenhagen is aiming to become the next Silicon Valley.

Copenhagen, Denmark ©S-F/Shutterstock.com

With success stories like Skype and Zendesk, they’re already off to a good start. A new nonprofit movement, Copenhagen for the Win (#CPFTW) seeks to make the greater Copenhagen area the most fertile ground for new tech businesses to spring up.

10. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Corporate Headquarters: ExxonMobil, American Airlines
Population: 7.6 million*

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is a bustling metropolis that sprawls across 11 counties and is referred to as a metroplex. The area is often referred to as the Silicon Prairie, as it has a similar business landscape to Silicon Valley.

Dallas, Texas ©Oleksandr Dibrova/stock.adobe.com

If the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex were its own nation with an independent economy, it would be the twentieth largest in the world. It has a thriving startup community that is only getting stronger each year with a new influx of talent from all over the world.

11. London, England

Corporate Headquarters: HSBC, Barclays, GlaxoSmithKline
Population: 9.5 million*

London’s already massive public transportation system is being ushered into the future with a new multibillion-dollar project. Set to be completed this year after delays, the Crossrail project is the most expensive of its kind in all of Europe.

Connecting the east and west of the city, the rail project cost over $20 billion dollars and is taking more than a decade to complete. The new line is named the Elizabeth line after Queen Elizabeth II.

12. Bangalore, India

Corporate Headquarters: Zoomcar, Tesla India, Stevia World
Population: 13.2 million*

Bangalore is especially primed to take over the world of tech, as India has an incredibly young population with many people eager to enter the workforce. Many IT companies are located in the Southern Indian city as well.

Bangalore, India ©Noppasin Wongchum/Shutterstock.com

IT companies flocked to Bangalore for the cheap and plentiful labor, and the availability of skilled tech workers. For this reason, it’s often called the “Silicon Valley of India”. It’s also home to several aerospace technology companies.

13. Shanghai, China

Corporate Headquarters: Alipay, Sinopharm Group, Yum China
Population: 27.8 million*

With such an incredibly massive population in the Shanghai metropolitan area, it’s no wonder that it has become a hotbed for tech innovation. As of 2022, Shanghai had a whopping 41 unicorn startups.

Shanghai, China ©Efired/Shutterstock.com

A unicorn startup is a company valued at a billion dollars or more. Shanghai’s enormous amount of unicorns, from automobile tech companies to food tech companies and more, reveals a competitive environment ripe for creation.

14. Berlin, Germany

Corporate Headquarters: Ecosia, Lufthansa Innovation Hub
Population: 3.56 million*

Berlin is known as a force of counterculture and innovation, which has bled out from the culture into the world of tech startups. It consistently ranks as one of the best cities in Europe for startups, as it is one of the most inclusive tech scenes out there.

Berlin, Germany ©Marco2811/stock.adobe.com

The city is particularly young, with 55% of the city’s population under the age of 45 as of 2020. This youthful energy, coupled with an influx of venture capital, has led to a ton of activity in the tech sphere and caused industry experts to keep an eye on the German city.