“Metropolises-coaches”: image value taken for exchange value

Abstract This article aims to approach some issues concerning values associated with metropolises, especially in this new era whose protagonists are images and symbols. Organized in three parts, it initially addresses the process of power formation and centralization in the metropolises; then, it provides contextualization, addressing financial/speculative capital, virtual realities, and their effects on metropolitan spaces; finally, on an experimental basis, it analyzes the performance and involvement between the metropolises and their websites managed by their administrations. The symbolic production of the metropolis is simplified, in opposition to the growing presence of complex urban processes, with objectives and action plans for a massive sale and a global market of cities. These meanings are associated with the figure of the coach.