Chat & Chowder: Boston and the Making of a Global City by James O'Connell

Join us for this installment of our popular Chat & Chowder series, featuring Professor of City Planning & Urban Affairs Department at Boston University, James O'Connell where he will discuss his new book, Boston and the Making of a Global City.

Chat & Chowder programs are an excellent opportunity to engage with expert speakers and to network with other globally-oriented participants in an informal environment. Each event features a presentation, audience Q&A, dedicated time for networking, and (of course!) a selection of chowders and beverages.

Thanks to the generous support of The Lowell Institute, Chat & Chowder is now free of charge for all participants (Zoom live-streams remain free as well). We sincerely appreciate The Lowell Institute’s commitment to our mission, as well as the support of our venue, Foley & Lardner LLP.

Please consider helping sustain this work by making a contribution here.

This program will be streamed to Zoom from 6:00 to 7:30. To attend the program virtually, please register for the zoom webinar here.

Advance registration is required. We cannot accommodate walk-ins for the in-person program.

Jim O’Connell’s latest book is Boston and the Making of a Global City. He teaches in the City Planning-Urban Affairs Program at Boston University. Jim’s other books include The Hub’s Metropolis: Boston’s Suburban Development, From Railroad Suburbs to Smart Growth; Dining Out in Boston: A Culinary History; and Becoming Cape Cod: Creating a Seaside Resort. Jim has a Ph.D. in Urban History from the University of Chicago. He formerly was a planner for National Park sites in New England and New York State. He leads urban planning/design tours of different areas of Boston and Cambridge.

In the late twentieth century the American and global economy shifted from manufacturing toward a knowledge industry. Following an economic low point several decades earlier, the city of Boston took advantage of the new era of globalization, fueled by dramatic advances in telecommunications, computer power, and air and sea travel, as well as its own impressive intellectual capital.

Boston and the Making of a Global City pulls together scholarship, media stories, personal interviews, and city planning documents to tell the story of Boston’s historical trajectory, as it quickly became a competitive global hub. Starting with its role as a colonial port and nineteenth-century maritime power, but moving quickly forward, the book describes how Boston capitalized on its strengths in higher education and such innovation sectors as life sciences, healthcare, information technology, and finance. Author James O’Connell traces the historical sweep of global flows—trade and supply chains, innovation and the dissemination of knowledge, investment, transportation, tourism, telecommunications, and immigration—that have shaped the city and region’s development. This volume also addresses the economic, social, and environmental challenges that Boston currently faces and how it is strategically positioned to confront them going forward.

WorldBoston's Chat & Chowder series features key authors on international affairs in an engaging setting. In addition to discussion of a featured book (usually sold at a significant discount), the program offers the opportunity for discussion among members and guests - and of course a selection of chowders and beverages. This Chat & Chowder will be hosted in-person (from 6:00 to 7:30PM ET) and live-streamed to Zoom (from 6:15 to 7:15 PM ET only).