In his most recent book, "Magical Urbanism,"
the social critic and author Mike Davis debates the ways in which Latinos
are "reinventing the U.S. city."
Davis
became famous about 10 years ago for his book "City of Quartz" that
provided a path-breaking and highly critical analysis of Los Angeles as a
"hyper modern city."
His latest book is based
on the profound demographic shifts in the United States that are
responsible for the rising prominence of Hispanics, trends with major
social and political ramifications.
The
term "magical urbanism" reflects the idea that much of this change has,
thus far, gone unnoticed and that now all of a sudden the American city
has taken on a different appearance.
Davis points out that in six of the 10 biggest U.S. cities - New York, Los
Angeles, Houston, San Diego, Phoenix, and San Antonio, in that order -
Latinos now outnumber blacks; and in Los Angeles, Houston, and San
Antonio, non-Hispanic whites as
well.
With the exception of Detroit, in
the 10 biggest U.S. cities Hispanics have become or are soon projected to
be the largest minority.
Within the United
States, the Latino presence has spread from the Southwest to the north and
to the east.
During the past 20 years,
Latinos provided an incredible 50 percent of the population growth in the
10 central states, sparking debate about the "browning of the
Midwest."
Across the country in the past
10 years, the Spanish surname population has grown 10 times faster than
the Anglo population.
All of these changes,
says Davis, have "truly millennial implications for U.S. politics and
culture" - especially in cities.
The
large working class residential neighborhoods of major cities that were
slowly bleeding to death in the wake of de-industrialization are now
repopulated by Hispanic immigrants, who often find work in newly growing
service industries.
The salsa flavor of
many of these areas stands in sharp contrast to Anglo suburbia. Many U.S.
cities now also play a vital role in the economy of faraway places in
terms of migrant remittances.
Within the
United States, Latinos have become a formidable consumer market,
particularly in the mass media.
The
largest Latino market is Los Angeles, followed by New York and then Miami.
Finally, Davis points out, Hispanics form a huge political force, the
potential of which in most cities has barely been
realized.
For example, in a city such as
Chicago where Latinos make up close to 30 percent of the population, they
already hold the balance of power in most local
elections.
Clearly, much of Davis' book
is inspired by the experiences of Los Angeles and New York and there is no
question that both these cities offer compelling stories.
Having long
boasted of being Mexico's second-largest city, L.A. now also has a
Salvadorian population greater than that of San
Salvador.
New York, in turn, has as many
Puerto Ricans as San Juan and as many Dominicans as Santo
Domingo.
Unfortunately, Miami is hopelessly
under-reported in this book and Miami's Latinos rarely fit the
descriptions of L.A.'s Mexicans or New York's Puerto
Ricans.
If you wonder how on earth it is
possible that in a book on this topic Miami of all places does not get the
headlines, it should tell you something about the place of this city on
the mental map of most Americans.
After
reading this book, it is, once again, apparent how unique Miami's
experience is. And it is equally apparent how little known and poorly
understood our city is.
Miami is the only
major city in the United States where immigrants are an absolute majority;
it is the only city where Latinos are an absolute majority; the only
city where Latinos are consistently better off than African Americans; the
only city where Latino immigrants were instrumental in the creation of a
major world city; and the only city where Latinos are an essential part of
the establishment and the elite.
That is what
I call magical urbanism.
Jan Nijman is professor of Geography and
Regional Studies, School of International Studies, University of
Miami.