{"id":14559,"date":"2023-12-12T06:58:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T11:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.takewalks.com\/blog\/?p=14559"},"modified":"2025-03-29T02:28:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T06:28:37","slug":"how-covid-changed-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.takewalks.com\/blog\/how-covid-changed-london","title":{"rendered":"How COVID Changed London (& Finding Silver Linings)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

London is no stranger to calamity. In 1348, the year the Black Plague hit the city (and most of the rest of Europe), the city\u2019s cemeteries quickly overflowed with bodies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1665, nearly 100,000 denizens of the city lost their lives to another wave of the plague. Just a year later, a ferocious fire erased the existence of a huge swath of the city, including 13,000 homes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1940-41, the Nazis conducted a blitz on London, killing 30,000 people, destroying 70,000 buildings, and damaging 1.7 million structures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, in March 2020, every city, including London, came to a halt because of an invisible invader. Streets were empty. Offices were abandoned. Restaurants and pubs went dark. Experts predicted the death of cities, including London.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few years later, we can say that the rumors of London\u2019s demise had been greatly exaggerated<\/strong>. London and the world\u2019s metropolises have come roaring back. And now, after this global shared experience, how has London, one of the most dynamic cities on the planet, changed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When thinking about how COVID changed London, we must see the short, medium and long term impacts it\u2019s had in this massive city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The sight of empty streets and sanitary masks was not a common thing for a Metropolis such as London. Photo credit: Dan Senior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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