Covid-19 and the end of commuterland

ROBERT EDWARDS and Mario Stephen have responded oddly to the coronavirus pandemic and the crash in high-street spending that it has caused. They have opened a hair salon. Although both men trained and worked for years in London, their new salon is in Hitchin, a town of some 35,000 people that is 50km north of St Paul’s cathedral. After a couple of months, business is good, says Mr Stephen, from behind a face mask and visor: “The lockdown made me realise that I don’t need to be in London any more.”

Covid-19 began as an urban disease. It appeared in Wuhan, China, and spread quickly through big international cities; in Britain, Birmingham and London became hotspots. But the virus did not stay urban for long, and its effects can be seen far beyond the densely populated cores. It has profoundly changed suburbs and commuter towns like Hitchin. In effect, covid-19 has abolished commuterland—a change that is more benign than it sounds.