I often observe that travelling to different places in different countries, there is always a lot of learning from small places. And trust me the real culture and originality of people is hidden in small cities only. They are not popular and you will not find them when you do Google search for "places to visit in a country". It's that you have to be there and search and hear it from local people because metro cities of a country are already modernized and they have lost their originality and roots. How? Let's get down to that road.
The metro cities are building sky wrappers, while small cities are nurturing the nature in the form of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, orchids etc. You can't find these in big cities. You will only find the big service apartments, pubs, clubs, hotels and restaurants with a lot of noise. You can't find peace in big cities. While in small cities we have natural sanctuary, ponds, small and big waterfalls, fields and crops, where you can breathe in fresh air and find peace. The sense of self-realization is often observed when you find peace. Peace outside and inside. On the other side in cities, you always feel people are rushing and so much crowd and noise that you can't hear your own voice. You are more close to nature in small cities. I think that's why we feel relaxed in a farm house rather than a pent house in city.
Apart from feeling good from within in small places far from cities, I have observed that most of the world famous people come from small places only. Be it Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama or Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa etc. All came from small places and made a big impact in changing our society. There is magic in air for those cities.
Most of the people already knew this. But they don't want to give up their current livelihood to enjoy peace in small cities. More people are moving towards cities for earning money and from money they can buy comfort. And later they realize that the real comfort is when you are close to nature.
Adding to that, current status is that the small cities are moving toward of becoming metro cities because the facilities and ease of living they see in big cities. But still bloggers, photographers, travellers and even stand-up comedian get their real stuff in small cities. There is no variety in big cities, only taller building pubs and restaurant. But in smaller cities we have a lot of varieties from natural landscapes to different kind of people and their culture.
You can spot these differences in big countries like USA, Australia, China, India etc. But in small countries like Hong Kong, Macau, Japan they have managed a very good balance between the big cities and their culture. Small countries don't have much space, so they have preserved their culture with use of technology very well.