Sydney, Australia, is catching up to Northern Virginia and Chicago as a top development hub for data centers, according to a new report.
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The report, published by Cushman & Wakefield, identified Sydney as the third-most-favorable overall location for data centers, based on variables like regulatory and political environment, infrastructure, and affordability of land and power.
"Sydney ... features as the biggest mover in the overall rankings, capping off a year of major development announcements and an ongoing transformation of much of Australia's government IT structure," according to the report. "The business capital of Australia is a key location for initial in-country cloud deployments and enjoys robust regional connectivity."
Northern Virginia remains the largest market globally by total capacity, with 1.2 gigawatts currently on offer and over 300 megawatts under construction, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Sydney has around 175 MW under development and boasts the fourth-largest development pipeline.
Recent deals in Sydney include a planned $400M, 36 MW site from operator DCI Data Centers. The Australian government has also boosted spending on cloud projects since adopting a cloud-first IT strategy several years ago.
According to Gartner, Australia's government spent roughly $7.6B on IT in 2020, a decrease from the prior year due to the impact of the coronavirus. Spending is expected to recover this year.
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