Messi and Miami are big competitive players on the global stage | Opinion

Cities compete with a breakneck ferocity for higher visibility in the world economy. Just as cars and airlines seek to gain favorable attention, cities also brand themselves, inventing catchy labels to advertise their most appealing features and promoting the city in various forms as a center for high-tech, innovation, art fairs, sports and cultural events.

Inter Miami CF’s signing of Lionel Messi is a major success that firmly positions Miami as an emerging global city. The Messi brand will help Miami strengthen an image that has universal draw.

Miami, alongside Singapore and Dubai, has become an influential player in the fields of international commerce, real estate and finance. Last month, The Economist ranked Miami at the top of a new index that assesses the economic performance of 10 global cities. Singapore and Dubai ranked second and third, respectively. The list includes New York, London and Tokyo.

Many other cities have attempted to match or surpass the same level of prominence as Miami, Singapore and Dubai but without similar success. Despite their different origins and history, these cities are remarkably similar. All three boast enormous ports and airports that are centers for international trade and points for transshipping commodities. All three feature major banking and financial hubs operating as centers for multiple forms of investment, mergers and acquisitions on an international scale. All three have developed a vast real-estate sector, building and marketing office and residential space for investors worldwide.

Trade, finance and real estate, however, are no longer the sole drivers of the capital-accumulation process. Global cities base their appeal not only on the density of corporate headquarters in finance, law and technology or the value of property, but also on the presence of international brands in sports, music, film, design and art.

Miami has become a year-round destination. Art Basel reportedly brings more millionaires and billionaires in private planes than those who attend the Super Bowl every year. Greater Miami hosted its first Formula One Grand Prix during the 2022 season. Tourists come to enjoy warm seashores and shopping malls.

For many, Miami is the haven of choice. The U.S. legal system and familiar language and culture have attracted scores of Latin Americans who want to safely invest their resources and display their affluence, a luxury not always available in their countries. People from all over the globe are coming to Miami. Now they will sit in the DRV PNK Stadium to watch Messi play, reunited with Tata Martino.

Miami, like Dubai and Singapore, climbed up the ranks of the capitalist world economy from a position of insignificance in only a few decades. Its rise was the consequence of decisive and sustained efforts by key actors who took advantage of propitious conditions. Upholding a city’s global standing, however, is not easy. Miami faces several existential challenges, starting with climate change. The threat of rising waters above existing levels will put Miami at increasing risk.

The socioeconomic gap is also a serious challenge. Neglecting the responsibility to address vast inequalities in the city may diminish Miami’s global appeal.

Immigration is vital to building this global center. Miami has been the place of refuge for the victims of so many institutional failures and political convulsions in the countries to its south. The migration flows that triggered its transformation were not prompted by local leaders, but foreign ones.

Consistent with Miami’s story, the Messi-Inter Miami deal is a tale of immigrants. Messi left his country for new opportunities. The owners of Inter Miami are David Beckham — the previous generation’s most famous soccer player and global-stage American import — and the Mas brothers, children of Cubans emigres who escaped the 1959 revolution.

Miami not only appeals to the wealthy and the middle class, but also to the urban working class, which relates to the lifestyle images produced by the city through the consumption of mass media and low-cost goods. Messi’s arrival highlights the pull of Miami as a magnet for style and consumption while reinforcing its status as a hopeful place in a world where selling the prospect of achieving one’s dreams is increasingly hard.

Any city that wants to speak to the imagination of millions around the world must cultivate a creative economy.

These millions will be watching the Messi magic in the Magic City. Both brands tell an aspirational story that is difficult to match anywhere else.

Ariel C. Armony leads the University of Pittsburgh’s global engagement as vice chancellor for global affairs. He is co-author, with Alejandro Portes, of Emerging Global Cities: Origin, Structure, and Significance.