In December 1943, Speer put Wolters in charge of planning for the reconstruction of bombed German cities. Wolters organized a working group of about twenty architects and city planners, mostly from northern Germany. The work of this group, known as the "Arbeitsstab Wiederaufbauplanung" (Task Force for Reconstruction Planning), would form the basis for the actual postwar reconstruction of Germany. Speer, who authorized the group, saw an opportunity to make German cities more habitable in the age of the automobile. The group sought solutions which would use the existing street system, rather than the grand ceremonial boulevards common in Nazi city planning. In addition, the "Arbeitsstab" issued extensive guidelines, ranging from the width of avenues that carried streetcar lines to the ratio of theatre seats to inhabitants.