Boston... A City of the Future?

Anyone who has tripped on a North End brick or leaned against well-worn T station walls in Boston would probably say that our city is deeply set in the past. Amid all the adored history and annoying outdatedness in parts of Boston, it can be easy to lose sight of all the ultra-modern changes happening in our hub. Apparently, Boston might be quite the modern metropolitan center after all!

A new study from consultant group Teneo ranks Boston as the number 16 among the most future-focused cities in the world. The study that crafted the rankings from factors like renewable energy usage, local B. corporation counts and healthcare indices, gave the city a score of 31.63 out of 50 possible points that measured progressive cities.

So what may be making Boston so ultra-modern? For one thing, Boston’s hospitals and labs truly lead the rest of the world in forward-thinking. In fact, most recently, a Boston lab has been seen to develop and distribute 10,000 at-home COVID-19 tests across the Bay area, according to a report from WBUR. From the labs of MIT to the hospitals of the South End, it’s true that the smartest scientists in the world are here in Boston, leading the way on health and safety discoveries.

Of course Boston’s future focus is based solely in healthcare. Boston is also a leader in clean energy.

According to the Mass.gov renewable energy report, the state has over 3,000 megawatts of energy available for use from solar, wind and combined heat and power sources. The city’s key positioning in a harbor where wind and water energy are abundant has certainly been a huge support to our green initiatives. Plus, Massachusetts residents have always been keen on saving on their winter heating bill. They have often been enthusiastic to generate solar energy on their own roofs as a way to keep warm during the winter time.

Finally, Boston is definitely a leader in commerce. According to the Teneo report, Boston has a purchasing power index of 111.8, tanking in the top six spots on the future-focused cities list. And with more and more major brands moving into Boston’s financial district and other parts of the city, the economic power of our small city doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.

The only downside to this list? At rank number 15, New York has us beat. So go ahead Boston, go do something "wicked smaht" so we can beat New York in the future.