The book · How it works

A city is
never just a city.

This book begins where my address ends. I live on Kohlmarkt, in 1010 Vienna. That is my starting point, not my horizon.

The idea.

A European book written by people, with AI only assisting. Every district, every city, every neighbourhood is a world of its own. Whoever truly knows a city should show it to us.

The contributions are not postcards. They are chapters of a shared story. What happened here? What has become of it today? And why is it not over yet?

The standard.

The edition does not ask how big something is. It asks: why is it special, who is behind it, why does it deserve a recommendation? This standard stays the same, whether we are in Vienna or in another city.

The AI.

AI comes along as the footnotes. It sorts, it checks, it cites. It invents nothing and writes none of my stories. If it ever voices a role, as in the trailer, we say so. It only takes on a real person’s voice with their consent.

Many single chapters thus become a book that is neither a tourist brochure nor a city chronicle. More of a user’s manual: how to read Europe when you are not looking down on it, but standing right in the middle of it.

Where it stands.

The project is being built. The first three finds from Vienna are written. More stories, cities and possible partnerships are coming step by step. Only approved texts are published here.