By Angelina Baicu | Photos by Ting Wei Li
On Wednesday, April 1, 2026, the Boston University Initiative on Cities, alongside the City Planning & Urban Affairs Program, welcomed BU Urbanist and Lecturer, Jim O’Connell, for a discussion surrounding his new book “Boston and the Making of a Global City.” In it, he highlights Boston’s historical and contemporary global connections. Joining O’Connell for the discussion is Michael Hoyler, Head of the Geography and Environment Department at Loughborough University. Together, the two examined the impact of globalization on Boston’s standing as a “global city” and what this means for the role that advanced producer services will continue to play in global networks.
“Here are the challenges for Boston as a competitive global city: maintain innovation and technological edge; retain and attract qualified talent.”
O’Connell began his presentation by discussing his interest in writing books about the places he’s lived in, citing his previous work, “Becomes Metropolis”, as a prime example. Similarly, “Boston and the Making of a Global City” elaborates on Boston’s economic and social transformation, building on sociologist Saskia Sassen’s concepts in her analyses of globalization. The term “global city” was first coined by Sassen to refer to the growing number of cities that had begun to form strategic transnational networks. In that same respect, O’Connell recounts in his book the 1980 Great Cities of the World Conference, organized by Mayor Kevin White, which invited mayors from 36 cities around the world to Boston.
From there, “Boston and the Making of a Global City” describes the economic and social changes in Boston during the 1970s. This includes both city renewal, in which Boston saw the emergence of high-tech industries, and decay, as metro Boston’s per capita income skyrocketed. He highlights the role of private investment in revitalizing downtown Boston, which significantly contributed to making Boston a global city. Most importantly, however, was Boston’s role as a global knowledge capital, highlighting the economic impact of institutions like MIT on global business services.
Boston’s history positions it uniquely among a global network of cities, and it faces both significant challenges and opportunities to maintain its status. For example, O’Connell highlights Boston’s growing need to address its problem with socioeconomic inequality if it wishes to remain competitive in an increasingly urbanized world. At the same time, he discusses the importance of attracting and retaining talent, particularly amid high living costs: “Here are the challenges for Boston as a competitive global city: maintain innovation and technological edge; retain and attract qualified talent. This is the key.”
With the presentation portion of the event concluded, Hoyler responds to O’Connell’s work, praising it for its longitudinal perspective. “The book is theory-informed, but not unnecessarily weighed down by it”, he stated. This allows the text to link Boston to frameworks from prior literature while still focusing on what makes the city unique. Hoyler then went on to discuss how advanced producer services– such as banking, legal, and consultancy firms– facilitate international networks that contribute to a city’s identity as “global”.
The Q&A section kicked off with a thought-provoking question from the Director of the Initiative on Cities and the event’s moderator, Professor Loretta Lees, who asked whether the concept of a global city remains Eurocentric. Hoyler responded with both yes and no, claiming that although the theory itself is not strictly European, it can definitely be made more encompassing. He suggested focusing on the presence of cities in the global south with new methodologies developed over the years. An audience member then inquired about what maintaining Boston’s global city status means for the city’s residents, from their perspective. “What do we do with that knowledge?” they emphasized, especially for citizens who don’t necessarily work in industries that aren’t connected to the making of a global city. At the end of the Q&A session, O’Connell and Hoyler both concurred that much of the economy is driven by citizens who don’t necessarily work in producer services, and that these individuals’ roles are just as important as those of others.