In eleven pointed and sometimes provocative conversations, the author - an architect and professor of architecture - tries to use a critique of contemporary urban planning to develop principles for re-establishing the discipline. In seven programmatic projects, he shows how these principles can be implemented in urban fragments and what a fresh start of that kind can look like, as high-quality craftsmanship. Both the conversations and the projects envisage a calm modern city which can measure itself against the historic city, is materially and culturally sustainable, and can provide a home for our multifaceted society.