An economist writing about skyscrapers describes seeing New York City from the Empire State Building in a unique way:

Together, the center becomes a chaotic yet controlled sociological soup: the mix of the mundane with the mighty. Looking down from the Empire State Building, I can see it all.

Is this a different version of the salad bowl metaphor for society (opposed to a melting pot)?

This reminds me of sociologist Robert Park calling the city a laboratory. Does suggesting it is a soup imply different things about the city?

I wonder if anyone has compiled a large or comprehensive list of metaphors for big cities. Given that they are relatively rare and in human history (a few large cities in the past not withstanding), what are frequent or unique images used to try to understand them? How many metaphors invoke food?