This book is about Copenhagen today. About the people who live in it, its history, its architecture, its special qualities and it spirit. It covers not only the beautiful old nucleus of the capital city, but also the districts in which the people of Copenhagen actually live: Vesterbro, Frederiksberg, Nørrebro and Østerbro, plus Christianhavn, Amager and New Copenhagen.

People tell what the essence of their districts really is. the thesis of the book is that such a thing exists: People move to where they have roots or where the think they will find others like themselves. In this way a special, self-reinforcing conception of the places arises. The various parts of Copenhagen are essentially different from each other, and their residents have fixed ideas as to - how we do things here. it is often not like that in reality, but that makes it only more interesting. The idea of the place lives on, and that is what the book is trying to describe.