[gfv]

Datacenters should have good, reliable and redundant supplies of power and connectivity. It is much easier to build a data center near or in a population center where fiber and electricity substations are plentiful, than to build your own long-haul fiber and high voltage lines into the middle of nowhere.

Of course you can do the latter if you have unlimited capital, but most companies choose the path of least resistance.

Don't know what the walkability argument is supposed to mean though: Amsterdam is famously walkable and cyclable, yet there are quite a few data centers right next to the center of the city; same goes for London.

[fomine3]

Ōtemachi, Tokyo is a famous location for datacenters. It's literally almost center of Tokyo so its land is really expensive. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Equinix+TY4+%E6%9D%B1%E4%B...

[bombcar]

Yeah I suspect that datacenters congregate near areas that multiple fiber connections come together, and those ares are near where multiple roads and rivers come together, which have traditionally been where cities are located.