Based on a review of nine recent books on urbanism and urban planning by researchers and professionals from a variety of disciplines, this article revisits the idea of the city’s material and imaginary components. There’s no question of going back to the traditional debates between town and country, dense city and peri-urban, carbon-based mobility and soft mobility, which have little relevance for action. Having recognized that narratives as well as architectural and urban planning prescriptions shape the city, there’s nothing to stop elected representatives and professionals from taking part in the ecological and solidarity-based transition, provided they start from the experience of residents and their practices.