Living Cities asks whether Miami’s World Cup boom will build local wealth

Living Cities is using its Capital + Culture series to examine whether Miami’s global investment surge around the FIFA World Cup will create lasting opportunity for local residents and businesses. The group says the real test is whether outside capital turns into neighborhood wealth, ownership and long-term economic participation.

Why it matters: - Miami is set to receive major global attention, spending and investment around the FIFA World Cup. - Living Cities argues the real measure of success is whether local businesses, workers and neighborhoods share in that upside. - The question goes beyond tourism revenue and temporary economic activity to lasting community wealth.

What happened: - Living Cities launched its Capital + Culture series to explore how major sporting and cultural events can create durable economic opportunity for host communities. - The series uses Miami as a case study for how global investment can support entrepreneurship, workforce participation, neighborhood investment and ownership pathways. - Joe Scantlebury, president and CEO of Living Cities, said the World Cup will bring extraordinary investment to Miami and that the more important question is whether that investment creates lasting opportunity for people and businesses that have contributed to the city’s success. - Scantlebury also said Miami has long attracted capital from around the world and now faces the challenge of turning that capital into local wealth.

The details: - The World Cup is expected to bring millions of visitors, international media attention, new investment, procurement opportunities and economic activity. - Living Cities says major events often generate billions of dollars in economic activity, but the benefits can remain unevenly distributed. - The group pointed to common gaps after big events, including local entrepreneurs struggling to win contracts, small businesses lacking access to new markets and residents seeing neighborhood change without ownership. - Miami’s diversity, entrepreneurial energy and global connectivity have made the city one of the country’s most dynamic economies, according to the release. - The city’s neighborhoods include small businesses, immigrant entrepreneurs, cultural institutions and local enterprises that shape Miami’s identity and competitive advantage. - The release frames the World Cup as a chance to strengthen the local economy that makes Miami distinctive, not just to showcase the city globally. - Living Cities says the event’s legacy should be judged by whether local businesses join global supply chains, entrepreneurs find new markets, workforce investments lead to long-term careers and neighborhoods gain assets that keep generating opportunity. - The group says the key questions are who receives contracts, who gains new customers, who accesses capital, who expands a business, who hires workers, who builds ownership and who creates wealth that stays in Miami. - The company description says Living Cities is an Action Engine for Equitable Cities, a member collaborative of philanthropic foundations and financial institutions focused on closing income and wealth gaps in the U.S. - Living Cities says it has spent 35 years advancing policy and systems changes nationwide and addressing barriers to capital investment through knowledge sharing and collective action. - More information is available in Living Cities’ announcement.

Between the lines: - The release is less about the World Cup itself than about who captures the economic value surrounding it. - Living Cities is signaling that visibility and spending are not the same as inclusion, especially in a city where outside capital already plays a major role. - The framing suggests a broader test for Miami: whether growth can produce ownership and durable wealth, not only short-term revenue.

What’s next: - Living Cities will continue using the Capital + Culture series to examine how Miami and other host cities can translate major-event investment into local opportunity. - The lasting impact of the World Cup will depend on whether businesses, workers and neighborhoods gain assets and market access that outlive the tournament.

The bottom line: - Living Cities wants Miami’s World Cup story to be measured not by how much money comes in, but by how much wealth stays local.