The issue of this research is the one to analyze to what extent the cultural action is integrated to the metropolization process, in the sense of a reinforcement of the weight of Metropolis as political stakeholder of globalization. Thus, we will discuss the way culture takes part in the metropolitan strategies in a globalized context, having for consequence to weight on the different imperatives of public action (visibility for public policy, cohesion of urban territories, transparency of public policy, integration to the international exchange system of metropolises,…) Therefore, essentially through the set-up of project, we can evoke the integration of the metropolitan cultural action in a system of constraint due to globalization; system, which partially induces the principles of cultural action and what could be expected of it. This is mainly translated by a process of heteronomization of cultural action, by a progressive integration of cultural policy into the metropolitan strategies, completing the process of instrumentalization initiated in the 80’s in favor of economic and social development. This situation is also translated by an evolution of the strategies of actors, of the metropolitan cultural policy. As a consequence we can possibly talk about pluralization of the cultural action. According to each context, this pluralization is more or profound and is heading towards different directions, calling for an important consideration for socio-territorial embodiment logics. Finally, this stresses on the constitution of a new model of cultural public policy for metropolises whom influences is no more, as it was the case for cities, in a sector-based cultural policy inspired by the state-driven action of a ministry for culture, but is now anchored in the cross-sector and territorialized action of the European Union. In a comparative perspective, we are relying on the study of projects intrinsically cultural or impacting on this sector of public action in four european cities : Barcelona, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Stuttgart.