The Walsh administration will use the example of the city’s Seaport district as a template for creating a new, pilot “Innovation District” that will focus on the corridor between Uphams Corner and Dudley Square. Mayor Martin Walsh announced the plan on Monday in tandem with a new report that outlines the ways that such a district can encourage job growth and economic development.

“As we work to create sustainable opportunities throughout the City of Boston, we have identified the creation of additional Neighborhood Innovation Districts as a promising strategy to empower and encourage the entrepreneurial talent that already exists in our neighborhoods,” said Walsh in a statement.

The idea for an expansion of innovation districts bubbled out of community meetings held during the transition period after the 2013 mayoral election. John Barros, the city’s chief of economic development, and Edward Glaeser, a professor of economics at Harvard University and former director of the Rappaport Institute of Greater Boston, served as co-chairs of the committee. State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry also served on the panel.

“Boston’s growth needs to be fueled by the continued growth of all of our neighborhoods,” said Barros in a statement this week. “Creating more ways for our local businesses and entrepreneurs to use the innovation economy and new technology in order to add more jobs and opportunities is exciting. Our new neighborhood innovation strategy expands access to all Bostonians and builds on the promise of the people who live and invest in our neighborhoods everyday.” 

The Dudley Square-Uphams Corner Corridor has been chosen as a pilot “to test the viability” of Innovation Districts beyond the Seaport, according to Glaeser. “The area was identified due to its economic vitality and the opportunity to use the infrastructure already established to create a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship,” he said.”

The district is particularly attractive because it is a great public transportation hub, said Glaeser. “It has strong educational institutions nearby and a population that is filled with energy and imagination. The district is one of Boston’s many great neighborhoods and we believe that it can be even greater with the neighborhood innovation district.”