The case for crowding in
ENTS ARE THE MOST EXPLICIT METRIC OF THE premium people are willing to pay to enjoy the heady pleasure of living in the world’s great cities—and currently they are down sharply in New York and San Francisco. London and Paris recently imposed new rounds of lockdowns. So perhaps it’s not the ideal moment to publish an ode to cities and cosmopolitan life as “humankind’s greatest invention,” according to its subtitle. In a hastily added few paragraphs in the introduction, the author, British historian Ben Wilson, acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic “could turn the tide against cities once again encouraging people to flee metropolises.” But he also adds that “cities are resilient, adaptable entities capable of standing up to all kinds of
