Georg Simmel
The metropolis indicates direction, form and pace of social transformation sooner and more clearly than any other city; it is a pioneer to the remaining society. Each metropolis combines history, present, and future in an individual way; it forms the relation of nature and culture; it embodies very individual constellations of local, regional, national, and global aspects.
Simmel characterized the metropolis as a focal point where the relevant social developments crystallize in a paradigmatic way. A new mode of social life - the "modern lifestyle" - develops, and along with it a new type of city-dweller. The metropolis is defined as a place of exemplary social experience.
Simmel, however, did not only refer to the modern metropolis as a driving force of cultural innovation, but emphasized its particular economic productivity resulting from its characteristics such as size, density, and heterogeneity. Increasing division of labor and specialization are the consequences - and to this day these are the outstanding features of large city economy.