The metropolis came to represent the ethos of industrial-capitalism where human life was intricately woven with the processes of commercialization and commodification. How did the social thinkers look at the processes and principles that guided urban life in the modern industrial capitalist societies? Georg Simmel’s (1858-1918) essay ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’ has been a classic exposition on this theme. Simmel was born in Berlin and lived in the downtown area. He had a doctorate degree from Berlin University in Philosophy but failed to obtain a permanent job until the last four years of his life because of his Jewish origin and intellectual radicalism. In his work, Simmel was not towing any well-established theoretical approach but was charting new territories. Though an academic outsider, he was an engaged public intellectual.