The Development of Boston’s Innovation District
A CASE STUDY OF CROSS-SECTOR COLLABORATION AND PUBLIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Understanding how city-level innovation districts can harness the strengths of each sector is particularly important in an era of urbanization, limited public resources, and increased public expectations of public sector innovation. The development of the Boston Innovation District provides an outstanding example of a government-led economic development approach involving collaboration across sectors. This report looks at the role of cross-sector collaboration in the development of Boston’s Innovation District and includes:
A detailed discussion of the traditional and non-traditional roles the public sector took on in leading the development of the District and a look at the Mayor’s vision for the District, which included an openness to industries of all kinds, clustering innovative entrepreneurs, adopting an experimental framework, and positioning the city as the host institution.
Insight into the Innovation District’s community engagement and communications strategy, which relied on informal, volunteer “community brokers” who integrated themselves into the community to build connections with entrepreneurs and other key constituencies.
An overview of key issues and lessons learned from the development of the Boston Innovation District, including issues of sustainability, takeaways about building successful cross-sector collaboration, and discussion of what’s next for the District.