The South Boston Gateways Planning Initiative was sponsored by the Artery Business Committee (now A Better City), a consortium of downtown Boston property owners that sponsor urban planning studies in an effort to coordinate large-scale development and the reciprocal impact on the urban realm. The South Boston study was conceived in an effort to better define the four important east-west streets in the Boston Seaport district in advance of two enormous real estate developments planned for the waterfront. Specifically, a methodology was developed that analyzed the reciprocal relationship between street-level retail and the design of the public realm.

The plan recommended a distinctive approach for each street. Since Old Northern Avenue is narrower, the blocks are shorter, and the street falls within a pre-existing tourist pedestrian route, continuous small-scale retail is recommended. Seaport Boulevard, on the other hand, has been conceived as a landscaped boulevard, with larger-scale double-height retail positioned at the four corners of street intersections. Banks and building lobbies will be required to be located mid-block. The corner retail is mandated as a first phase, but as the district becomes more populated (and the first-phase retail is well-established), additional retail can fill in between the two-story corner stores.