Downtown Boston is made up of the Financial District, Back Bay, South Boston Waterfront, North Station, South Station, and Charlestown. Boston is the urban center of the region and the economic, political, and cultural “hub” of New England. Financial services companies, law firms, and professional and business services firms dominate the office market. Boston is also world renowned for its medical institutions, home to several of the country’s top hospitals, and its universities. Surrounded by the Boston Harbor to the East, and the Charles River to the North, Boston has a lack of developable land and a stringent regulatory environment that make it a notoriously difficult place to develop commercial property. Boston’s core submarkets, which house most of its largest tenants, are the Financial District and Back Bay, while the emerging South Boston Waterfront submarket has the most potential for future growth and development.