Looking back from a bust, a boom always looks pretty stupid. But without booms, we'd never have had Miami, the city of absurd property bubbles, wild speculation and the exuberant architecture which accompanies its perennial irresponsibility. There was the Mediterranean fantasy architecture of the 1920s. There was the dazzling tutti-frutti of the greatest and most irrepressibly cheery concentration of art deco anywhere in the world. There was the louche hipsterism, the canopies and cocktails of MiMo - Miami modernism. And there was the silk and pastel postmodern of the Armani 1980s.

For a goodtime city, the fabled refuge of gangsters and elderly East Coasters. Miami has been subjected to wild swings. Each outburst of architectural expression was accompanied by trauma. Those Mediterranean-influenced villas and apartments, of which the dream-like Biltmore is the finest example, were battered by a 1926 hurricane that killed 100 people, and then smashed on to the rocks of the Great Depression. The inventive hotels in the Art Deco District spread out along Collins and Ocean Drive until development ground to a halt after Miami became, remarkably, the one mainland US city attacked in the second world war. A fleet of German Uboats torpedoed four tankers just outside the city's harbour in full view of horrified crowds.

The 1950s and 60s saw both an explosion of the city's own brand of moderne - the huge, swinging hotels around the beaches and the beginnings of the white flight that would eventually see affluent US city centres collapse. Miami is also a city which, despite its laidback swing, has been an ocean of racial tension. It is hard to imagine that beaches in the 1930s displayed signs saying "Gentiles Only" and that after the war black housing projects were fire-bombed, while as recently as 1980 the city was shaken by race riots.

Then came the era of Miami Vice and Scarface. in which the city became a cipher for decadence. The shiny suits, pastel shirts and coke-iced nostrils had their architectural equivalents in the mirror glass towers of downtown and the extraordinary outburst of creative postmodern energy embodied in the world of the Arquitectonica corporation. The 1982 Atlantis Condo Building, with its swimming-pool-blue grid and cut-outs with pop-up palm trees, exemplifies this optimistic excess.

The latest boom, though, has ended without a conspicuous legacy beyond the endless, bland apartment blocks and second homes. If there is something left over it is the reinvention of some of the city's less palm-lined streets as design and arts districts. And the stage-set architecture of the city is proving a compelling backdrop to its reinvention as a design capital.

The most obvious symptom of the new vision of Miami is the successful Art Basel Miami Beach, an enormous art fair held each November that has cemented the city's reputation as a serious culture desti-nation. It has bred a slew of satellites including Design Miami and a number of younger shows that come together to make a real event when the world converges on the warmth of the Beach.

But how does the city sustain an art and design sensibility beyond the intensity of the fairs? The attractions are spread about: but when you find them, they are quite something. The Wolfsonian. situated in a wonderful old furniture storage building in Miami Beach, is one of the finest applied arts museums there is. From the antique-steel book stacks of the cafe and bookshop to the ornate art deco fountain in the main lobby, the building embodies a passion for design. The collection focuses on a clearly defined era (1885-1945) and uses design to illuminate social history.

The extraordinary Geneva stained glass window, designed for the city's League of Nations building in 1926. presents a balletic fantasy composed around episodes from Irish avant-garde literature, from James Joyce to Sean O'Casey. It was never used, because it was thought too risque for a conservative. Catholic nation. But it represents to Ireland what the exiled and iconoclastic Ballets Russes were to Russia, and is unmissable.

Back across the water on the rougher edge of the Design District, the Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz gallery is an extraordinary new Sitting in a brand new. purpose-built of blinding whiteness and searing museum of blinding whiteness and searing clarity by architect John Marquette, it
houses a powerful collection of mostly Latin contemporary works. De la Cruz has made it a free-to-enter institution and is employing kids from the neighbourhood as guards and training them as curators.

Not far away is the Rubell Family Col-lection. In a delicious irony, the superb contemporary collection is based in a former industrial building that once housed the confiscated cocaine which poured into the city and flooded the night-club of the dynasty's founder. Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell.

The decidedly patchy borderlands of the Design District. Little Haiti and Wynwood. are in the process of gentriflcation. But dereliction is rife and some streets can be intimidating. "Sneaker fruit" - trainers hanging by their laces from telegraph lines to demarcate territory - shows the gangs are very much around. A civic effort to make Little Haiti into a colourful tourist ethnic zone has signally failed.

The Design District, christened Decora-tors' Row in the 1920s second-home boom, is a tiny but engaging enclave with some interesting buildings. There's Zaha Hadid's installation at the lovely old Moore Building, a sticky, stretched chewing gum intervention spanning the atrium. Another fine, industrial-style building houses furniture showrooms and the superb Zanotta restaurant. It is as close as anywhere beyond Miami Beach that the city has to a pleasant, walkable area and. with striking buildings, cool boutiques and galleries emerging, it is a real work in progress, an answer to Manhattan's Meatpacking district.

Few cities have modern architecture as euphoric as that of Miami Beach. The Art Deco District is unsurpassed in its ice-cream-toned feel-good architecture, and it was one of the cities to take full advantage of its architecture as a tourist destination. Start a tour from the Art Deco District Welcome Centre. The big boutique hotels are beginning to look dated but Philippe Starck's theatrical remodelling of the Delano stuns. Lincoln Road, one of the city's swankiest shopping streets, was redesigned in 1960 by MiMo's biggest star. Morris Lapidus (motto: "Less is never enough"). The wavy roofs and sun shades that snake up the middle of the road make it the city's most walkable street even on the hottest of days. Even the Starbucks is in a star deco building.

At the top of Lincoln, where the urbanity runs dry. stands an unmissable landmark. A massive multistorey parking garage, replete with boutiques, bookshops and artworks, a spiky concrete landscape by Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron. it is successor to the grand downtown train stations as urban marker.

Round the corner is the concert hall by Frank Gehry. still being built. Finally, don't miss the beautiful Bacardi building. Built in 1963 by Puerto Rican architect Enrique Gutierrez, it is a seductively simple piece of corporate modernism, which would have slotted seamlessly into Fifth Avenue if it wasn't for those huge blue and white azulejo tile murals on its side.

Miamis highlights shine in a swamp of sprawl. But the fruits of those booming booms are as ripe and sweet as architecture anywhere.

Culture converges with commerce in Miami next week as designers, collectors, dealers and critics from around the world zone in on the city’s annual art and design shows. Now in its fifth edition, Design Miami could be considered the younger sibling of Art Basel Miami Beach (last year it attracted 22,000 visitors against the art show’s 40,000) but is proving equally effective as a force for change in an area now known as Miami Design District.

Five miles from the art deco hotels along South Beach, Miami’s previously blighted midtown area is undergoing radical change in the hands of property developer Dacra, which for the past 10 years has been turning an 18-block, semi-industrial area of neglected 1920s and 1930s buildings into a hub for design, art, fashion and cuisine. “I’ve always believed in art and design as an economic driver,” says Craig Robins, chief executive of Dacra. “We try to combine quality, long-term businesses with alternative uses such as cultural events, art exhibitions and limited edition experiences. Then the area becomes an amazing, unusual place. It’s this dynamism that creates long-term growth.”

Barbara Hulanicki, founder of the iconic London store Biba in the 1960s and now a Miami resident, whose design work was instrumental in revitalising many South Beach hotels, agrees. “Design has been the real impetus for the changes,” she says. “The art and design shows have been very important for the city, encouraging galleries to open up, while restaurants keep the district alive in the evenings and at weekends. Miami Design District is a commercial area that doesn’t look commercial. It’s taking a while to warm up because of the general slowdown but there’s an energy there and, thankfully, always parking.”

Robins, 46, is the lawyer son of a local developer, an avid collector of art and design and a member of the Board of Trustees at the Miami Art Museum . Dacra, the company he founded in 1987, played an integral role in the revitalisation of Miami’s South Beach district through the restoration of art deco landmarks including the Marlin, Tides and Victor hotels. In 1999 Robins acquired 8.5 acres on the southern tip of Allison Island and turned the area into Aqua, a gated residential enclave with modern architecture and site-specific public art. Around the same time, he began buying properties in Miami’s run-down midtown area.

Robins takes a curatorial approach, courting a mix of high-profile design showrooms (Vitra, Driade, Cassina, Kartell, Fendi Casa, Poltrona Frau, Knoll, Ligne Roset, Poliform, The Rug Company), fashion houses (Tomas Maier, Marni, Marimekko and Y-3) and restaurants (five of Florida’s top chefs have opened here). It’s an ongoing process, with French fashion designer Christian Louboutin’s flagship store and showrooms for Bisazza, the Italian glass-mosaic tile specialist, and avant garde furniture company Cappellini opening this month.

Site-specific sculpture and architectural hardware, commissioned by Dacra, have enhanced the ambience. These include Zaha Hadid’s “Elastika” sculpture in the historic Moore Furniture Company building, Marc Newson’s bespoke fence for the Design & Architecture Senior High School and Cuban artist José Bedia’s murals in the Buick Building. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco’s eye-catching mural “Sol” and Kenny Scharf’s “Fountain of Life” enliven the Buena Vista building’s atrium while “Diamantina”, an outdoor installation by Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana, was the site-specific commission for winning Design Miami’s Designer of the Year award 2008.

“All these pieces give the neighbourhood a very special sense of space,” says Robins.

New public art commissions to be unveiled this winter include Cosima von Bonin’s mixed media sculpture called “Life is Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom”. Another work in wood, glass and metal by Rirkrit Tiravanija replicates architect Philip Johnson’s glass residence on a child-sized scale. “Untitled 1997 (Playtime)” is designed to introduce youngsters to architectural ideas and was originally shown at the sculpture garden Johnson designed for New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Also in the mix are commercial art galleries, artists’ and photographers’ studios and other creative businesses. Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz’s personal art collection is now open to the public in a new 30,000 sq ft gallery, while the Rubell family’s private art collection (including work by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Cindy Sherman) can be viewed by appointment, as can Robins’ own design/art collection at Galleria Aqua. Worth visiting is Martin Margulies’ growing collection of photography, video and sculpture at the Warehouse and Ella Fontanals-Cisneros’ art space dedicated to contemporary artists from Latin America.

It is an emerging creative scene that Robins nurtures with monthly art and design nights, online social activities and initiatives such as Limited Edition Experiences, the first of which will see pop-up shops by Fendi, Proenza Schouler, Christian Dior Homme and other top fashion groups offering limited edition designs from this Monday until the Super Bowl in February. Audi will also hold the launch of its A8 model on Miami Beach on Monday alongside specially created art and design elements.

Previous visitors will be surprised, promises Robins, by “new material, a very special installation by Dutch designer Maarten Baas [Design Miami’s Designer of the Year 2009] and performance art in partnership with Fendi. All the retailers will be doing something special at their showrooms too.” Robins’s belief in art and design as an engine for change is endorsed by Dacra’s property statistics. Commercial property values in Miami Design District rose from $100 to $400 per sq ft between 2000 and 2009 compared with a $250 to $750 per sq ft increase in South Beach. It is also bucking the current national trend. “There are few places in the US where there’s growth – everywhere is suffering – but Miami Design District is growing, just more slowly than it would have done,” says Robins.

However, Tony Goldman, chief executive of New York-based Goldman Properties, which has developments in Miami’s Wynwood area, believes “it will take three to five years for the [Miami] market to absorb an oversupply of housing built in the bubble two or three years ago.” In the meantime the rental market is coming to the rescue. “The volume of residential real estate leases in the design district has surged over the past 12 months – so much so that investors are being drawn to the area by the lure of being able to easily rent their new investment properties,” says Ron Shuffield, president of Miami-based EWM Realtors. “The area has a New York-feel, which appeals to our international clients.”

Goldman takes a long-term view. “It’s a quality product but it will need perseverance,” he says. “The area needs a street-life that’s more than 9am-5pm weekdays. But the showrooms have given the area prestige and a cosmopolitan flavour. People no longer have to go to New York for these products.”

I moved from New York to Miami in 2004 because I wanted to be part of a city that was changing right before my eyes. It has gone from being a sleepy, laid-back beach town to a truly international place with an exciting cultural outlook that is still evolving. I was born in Greece and have lived in Italy and London, but I realized I might never again have the chance to witness such a rapid transformation.

As director and co-founder of Design Miami, the global forum for collecting, exhibiting, discussing and creating design, Miami is central to my life. It has its own distinct vibe - more like South America than the US - as well as the beach and great weather. Before I moved here though, it wasn't even on my radar. But since Craig Robins and I launched Design Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach in 2005, art and design stores and galleries have begun to relocate here from the rest of the US and even Europe. Now there is a real creative and entrepreneurial buzz, especially around the area that has become known as the Design District.

The Design District runs from North East 2nd Street to North Miami Avenue and from 42nd to 36th Streets. It originally earned its name as a centre for furniture stores and decorating showrooms. Having become a run-down semi-industrial area of neglected 1920s and 1930s buildings, it was home to many artists because it was cheap. Now it is rapidly transforming into a lively mix of groovy restaurants and upmarket retailers and galleries. We are right in the middle of this transition period and it is being carefully handled so that the special atmosphere isn't ruined. As a native of Miami, Craig wanted to create a district where people who were not in the industry could walk around and see great design and art.

Craig and I believe passionately in the importance of public art. Just across the street at 4001 North East 2nd Avenue, Marc Newson designed the fences and gate for Dash, the local Design and Architecture Senior High School and one of the leading educational institutions in the country. At the nearby Buick Building, which now contains shops and galleries, you can enjoy a mural by the Cuban artist Jose Bedia, while in the atrium of the Buena Vista building, there's the Fountain of Life by Kenny Scharf. At the same location, you will find a model of the RUR Bridge by Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto, the winning design of a pedestrian bridge to be built in the Alishan mountains in Taiwan.

What took my breath away when I first moved here was how many individuals have opened their own private museums or foundations so that the public can also enjoy their art collections. At the end of 2009, Rosa de la Cruz will open a 30,000 sq ft art space to house her collection, including work by the late Cuban conceptual artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Mexican post-minimalist Gabriel Orozco (you can also make an appointment to see it at her Key Biscayne home). Craig Robins is also planning to open his own dedicated gallery space but in the meantime you can arrange a private tour of his collection by contacting him at his real estate company Dacra.

Cross 36th Street, and you are in the area known as Wynwood, another hub for galleries. Martin Margulies opened the Margulies Contemporary Art Collection here in 1999 in a former warehouse that now houses his burgeoning collection of photography, video and installation works, plus sculpture and pieces by artists such as Rothko, De Kooning and Miro. It's also worth checking out Cifo, Ella Fontanals-Cisneros' art space, which is dedicated to contemporary artists from Latin America. Another absolute must-see is the Rubell Family Collection, which comprises work from the 1960s to the present day selected by two generations of the Rubell family, including works by Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman.

Of the many commercial galleries in the Design District and Wynwood, Fredric Snitzer and Kevin Bruk are worth dropping by, not to mention Emmanuel Perrotin, whose space here is jaw-dropping. And if you want to see art rather than buy it, there are a number of important public galleries - most notably the Miami Art Museum (MAM), which merged with Miami Art Central (MAC) in 2007. Run by Terence Riley (previously chief curator of architecture and design at New York's Museum of Modern Art) since 2006, it displays art from the 20th century to the present day by artists such as Carlos Alfonzo, Chuck Close, Marcel Duchamp, Teresita Fernandez, Robert Rauschenberg and Ruben Torres Llorca. The architects Herzog & de Meuron have been selected to design a new and expanded home for it on the north side of Museum Park, overlooking Biscayne Bay.

Be sure, too, to visit the Wolfsonian, which focuses on design history through late-19th and early-20th century artefacts, primarily of North American and European origin. There's furniture, industrial design, glass, ceramics, metalwork, ephemera, textiles and such like, including examples of British Arts and Crafts, Dutch and Italian Art Nouveau and German Design Reform.

Another sure sign that the Design District is on the up can be seen in the restaurants; this time last year there were really only two good restaurants, now there are seven. Of these I particularly recommend Fratelli Lyon, a joint venture by Kenneth Lyon and chef Brian Morales; Pacific Time, one of Miami's most renowned restaurants, which recently opened an outpost here; Domo Japones, a fantastic blend of Japanese and French cuisine; Michael's Genuine, a top-rated name which uses local, organic ingredients; and Brosia, for wonderful Mediterranean-influenced cuisine.

Exploring further afield, I like to go to Toni's Sushi Bar, just across from the Wolfsonian on Washington Avenue. It looks a bit shabby, but the sushi is phenomenal. You also really can't go wrong at Casa Tua (also a hotel and private members' club) in the heart of the Art Deco district. Good Italian food can also be found at Quattro, run by Fabrizio and Nicola Carro. But for the most authentic, old-school Miami experience, it has to be The Forge. Just be sure to take your sense of humour and dress up because this is the real deal, with Cuban girls with coconut shells. The steak is great, as is the wine selection.

When it comes to hotels, my first recommendation would be The Standard, created by Andre Balazs from the former Lido Spa on Belle Isle, rather than on South Beach, where most of the city's good hotels are. It is as much a spa as a hotel, with Scandinavian influences including walls of pale wood in the bar set off by mid-20th century chairs by Danish designer Ole Wanscher. It is very hip and zen but you can also waltz around in your pyjamas or join in with the Sunday-afternoon bingo in the lobby. The spa really is exceptional - when they say they do yoga, they really do yoga.

I also love The Raleigh on South Beach. It is another Balazs triumph, a sister property to Chateau Marmont and The Mercer in New York. This is old Miami at its best and the lotus-shaped pool is, hands down, the most beautiful in the city. The serv-ice could be slicker but the hospitality is heartfelt. Miami's hotels, particularly those on South Beach, are where people go to meet, have brunch and hang out. The Delano hotel is always worth a visit, as is the Shore Club, which was designed by the British architect David Chipperfield. Like many people, I am also excited that Soho House is due to open late next year on the site of the old Sovereign Hotel.

If it is club life you fancy, there are too many to name, and at some point in the evening it is as though every restaurant turns into a sort of disco. I really like the Florida Room beneath the Delano, designed by Lenny Kravitz and inspired by the classic period of South Florida glamour. As well as great music, it offers a whole range of cock-tails with a Cuban Latin feel. The Mokai Lounge is also worth a look, though it's cooler on some evenings than others.

As Miami's star ascends, so more and more blue-chip retail outfits are taking up space in the Design District, notably Y-3, the elegant collaboration between Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas. Also interesting is the transformation of the art-deco Webster Hotel into a luxury men's and women's fashion store by, among others, Milan Vukmirovic (one of the founders of Colette in Paris). The Webster opens next month and will carry brands suck as Balenciaga, Balmain, Prada, Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney. Nektar De Stagni also has a great fashion store in the Design District, while on Miami Beach you will find the lifestyle store opened by Tomas Maier, creative director of Bottega Veneta, which sells everything from fashion to flowers, scents to CDs, sandals to candles. If it is great design you are after, the Design District offers more than 50 design showrooms including Knoll, Kartell, Poliform, Ligne Roset, Driade and Luminaire Contract.

Miami is changing so fast that even by the time you read this another boutique hotel, luxury retailer or international restaurateur will probably have announced their intention to set up shop here. You could say Miami is having a "moment", but the design scene is very much here to stay.


THE HIT LIST
HOTELS
Prices are for two in a double room, B&B. Delano (pictured right), 1685 Collins Ave (+1305-672 2000; WWW. delano-hotel.com), from £268. The Raleigh, 1775 Collins Ave (+1305-534 6300; www.raleighhotel.com), from £349. The Shore Club, 1901 Collins Ave (+1305-695 3100; www.shoreclub. com), from £347. The Standard, 40 Island Ave (+1305-6731717; www. standardhotels.com), from £222.

RESTAURANTS AND CLUBS
Prices are for a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine. Brosia, 163 NE 39th St (+1305-572 1400), £26. Casa Tua, 1700 James Ave (+1305-6731010), £87 (four courses). Domo Japones, 4000 NE 2nd Ave (+1305-573 5474), £32. The Forge, 432 41st St (+1305-538 8533), £71. Fratelli Lyon, 4141 NE 2nd Ave (+1305-572 2901), £32. Michael's Genuine, 130 NE 40th St (+1305-573 5550), £34. The Mokai Lounge, 235 23rd St (+1305-695 0288). Pacific Time, 35 NE 40th St (+1305-722 7369), £25. Quattro, 1014 Lincoln Rd (+1305-5314833), £48 (four courses). Toni's Sushi Bar, 1208 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach (+1305-673 9368).

SHOPS AND GALLERIES
Emanuel Perrotin, 194 NW 30th St (+1305-573 2130). Fredric Snitzer, 2247 NW 1st Place (+1305-448 8976). Kevin Bruk, 2249 NW 1st Place (+1305-576 2000). Nektar De stagni, 155 NE 38th St (+1305-576 6695). Tomas Maier, 1800 West Avenue, (+1888-373 0707). The Webster, (+1305-674 7899). Y-3,150 NE 40th St (+1305-5731603).

SIGHTS
Buena vista, 180 NE 39th St. Buick Building, 3841 NE 2nd Ave. Cifo, 1018 North Miami Ave (+1305-455 3380), Thurs-Sun, 10am-4pm. Craig Robins' private collection, Dacra (+1305-531 8700). MAM, 101 West Flagler St (+1305-375-3000), Tues-Fri, 10am-5pm, Sat-Sun, 12pm-5pm. Martin Margulies, 591 NW 27th St (+1305-5761051), Fri-Sat, llam-4pm. Rosa de la Cruz's private collection, e-mail Rdelacr@aol. com. Rubell Family Collection, 95 NW 29th St (+1305-573 6090), Wed-Sat, l0am-6pm from Dec 3-May 30 2009. Wolfsonian Collection (Lo Medico's maquette pictured left), 1001 Washington Ave (+1305-5311001), Safe-Tues, 12pm-6pm, Thurs-Fri, 12pm-9pnrk

LESS THAN AN HOUR AWAY
A 20-minute drive away in North Miami is C'Madeleine's, the largest vintage store In the world (+1305-945 7770).

WHEN TO GO
It's sunny and dry, Nov-Apr. Design Miami and Art Basel Miami Beach run Dec 3-7.

HOW TO GET THERE
Virgin Atlantic (0870-380 2007; www.virgin-atlantic.com) flies from Heathrow, from £340. British Airways
(0844-493 0787; www.ba.com) flies from Heathrow, from £422.