BOSTON—Chief officials with the City of Boston were joined by representatives of five nearby cities on Wednesday to announce the formation of a compact charged with addressing regional problems that affect economic development and business growth.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh was joined by mayors and city managers from Braintree, Cambridge, Chelsea, Quincy and Somerville to announce the launch of the Greater Boston Regional Economic Compact. The new group is one of several regional alliances Boston has helped form under the Walsh Administration that has also addressed the Life Science sector in the Greater Boston area as well as climate change.

Mayor Walsh said of the compact's formation, "In order to succeed it is important that we first recognize that some of our greatest obstacles are not contained within city lines and that regional challenges require regional solutions. I look forward to working together with our surrounding partners to overcome obstacles and grow together across sectors and across borders."

Some of the areas to be addressed by the compact will be housing, transportation, sustainability, and economic development. As part of the compact, each of the participating cities will explore committing funds to hire a full-time staff member to help develop a strategy for economic growth. In addition, a regional compact coordinator will be hired to develop a regional economic development strategy.

"Economic challenges and opportunities for our region do not stop at our city borders," says Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone. "From transportation to housing to addressing sustainability and climate change, if we are to succeed as individual cities as we face 21stcentury challenges, we must develop our strengths as a region. This compact is an important first step in doing so."

The compact commits each city to demonstrate their commitment to developing a regional economic strategy by meeting at least every other month and establishing a formal structure for the group. These sessions will be focused on and will serve as a forum to discuss regional economic development as well as housing, transportation, economic development and sustainability. In addition, the cities agree to follow through on matters discussed and regularly review progress made as well as challenges that arise. The compact is also looking to encourage other communities in the Greater Boston region to join.

The City of Boston and the five other cities were among 14 municipalities that signed a regional commitment this past May to tackle climate change—the Metro Boston Climate Preparedness Commitment.

In May 2014, the mayors of Boston, Cambridge, Quincy, Somerville and Braintree announced the formation of the Life Sciences Corridor. The corridor was created to promote the robust life sciences sector along the MBTA red line in the Greater Boston region.