How Miami became a global city

Author Saskia Sassen, who wrote her first book, “The Global City,” in
1991, tells Foreign Policy how Miami has become one of the world’s true
“global cities.” While most such cities, like London and Istanbul, drew
on old-world histories, Miami never had one — and several factors
contributed to its growth. One was the infrastructure of international
trade set up largely by Cubans in Miami, along with real estate
development spurred by wealthy individuals from Latin America. The
opening of regional headquarters in Miami by firms across the world,
along with deregulation that made the city the banking center for Latin
America, contributed to a mixing of cultures and sectors that created
“remarkable diversity and complexity,” she says. Miami is an exception,
however, she says: “a little outpost that suddenly explodes — that is
very rare.” [Foreign
Policy]