What does New York City represent?

The city is an important symbol of how modern humans live their life, largely in urban settings and estranged from the natural world. The city is, in many ways, the apotheosis of modern technological advancement. As centers of capital, finance, culture and innovation, cities are shown to be simultaneously the most advanced areas and the most vulnerable. Furthermore, despite the large populations of cities, people living in them seem to share less connection to others. This is shown when Max goes out to meet his neighbors for the first time.