I think the essence of web2py can be summarized in one word: Pragmatic. Many design decisions and advantages of web2py can be traced to this word. Web2py ignores typical design patterns of python frameworks to come up with something quite unique. This word justifies the existence of web2py in the Python world, at the same time it gives a compelling reason to attracts new comers.
So there is: Web2py: The Pragmatic Framework.
