London leads as Europe’s top city for projected real-estate occupier demand, followed by Paris, according to research from LaSalle Investment Management.
The firm’s European Cities Growth Index London and Paris owe their success to their large metropolitan areas and ability to adapt to changing macroeconomic conditions.
The two cities generate over 30% of all economic output in their respective countries and are forecast to single-handedly account for a sixth of European absolute growth in the next decade, LaSalle said.
However, Paris has overtaken London as the top destination for venture capital funding for the first time since LaSalle began tracking this data in 2006.
The French capital received “particularly elevated levels” of investment in its technology sector.
The index registered strong growth prospects for the entire Nordic region, too. The region’s world-leading exporters in industries like life sciences, wind power infrastructure and industrial tech have driven relative gains in productivity and economic growth prospects. Stockholm is in third position in the index, and Copenhagen and Helsinki join the top five and 20, respectively, for the first time in the index’s history.
German cities have performed strongly in the index despite slow population growth as a result of their ageing inhabitants, said LaSalle. Munich is Germany’s top city for projected real-estate occupier demand this year, having consistently landed in the index’s top 10. Berlin has reached its highest score ever on the index due to improved job growth and the diversity of its economic output.
Petra Blazkova, a research and strategy head at LaSalle, said: “We must also acknowledge the role of climate change in determining potential occupier demand across Europe, as this year’s ECGI registers a notable impact of extreme heat on cities closer to the Mediterranean and those dominated by traditional industry.”
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