Digital nomad villages are organized communities that provide the work infrastructure remote workers need to be productive - and social activities to keep them happy.
The villages are generally in scenic locations and have coworking spaces, places for remote workers to live, decent WIFI, networking events, and a range of social activities.
The first digital nomad villages evolved organically and informally.
Ubud in Bali and Thailand's Chiang Mai are examples and have been popular with digital nomads for many years.
But with the growth of remote work, local governments are starting to invest in the development of digital nomad villages. Their objective is to attract digital nomads and the economic activity they provide.
The Portuguese island Madeira is often cited as the location of the first planned digital nomad village. It has a very active social scene. Key quote from the village's community manager:
“It can be very social. In high season for nomads, which is in March until June, you might have to make a conscious effort to take a break from all the social interaction, depending on your personal social battery."
According to Sifted's Where are Europe’s top digital nomad villages? there are now quite a few digital nomad villages across Europe.
Brazil recently decided to jump on the digital nomad village bandwagon.
According to Skift's Behind Brazil’s Plan to Launch South America’s First Digital Nomad Village, the beach town of Pipa (pictured below) was selected as the country's first digital nomad location.
Work has begun to create the infrastructure needed to attract and support digital nomads.
Brazil is partnering with NomadX to build out Pipa. They're the firm that helped create the village in Madeira and several other locations.
The competition to attract digital nomads and remote workers is heating up. Countries and cities have realized digital nomads spend money, don't take local jobs - and even create local jobs supporting the needs, including work needs, of digital nomads.
We expect many more purpose build digital nomad villages to be created over the next few years.