For a long time, the extension of consumption possibilities was strongly valued by the ideology dominating Western societies. In recent decades, this aim has been contested by various socio-cultural movements. The common ground of these movements is a metaphysics that is studied here. The investigation is conducted from the perspective of the theory of cities (Boltanski and Thévenot, 1991). After explaining the conceptual foundations of this model, the main discourses of the ancient and medieval period on voluntary poverty are analyzed through its prism. The same operation is repeated for current discourses on voluntary simplicity - to examine whether we are dealing with more than just counter-cultural movements: with the construction of a new city.