# Do We Still Need Cities? **URL:** **By** Peter Van Doren, Paul Matzko **Published:** July 9, 2020 --- COVID-19 has not caused the decline of the city, but rather merely sped it up. New York City’s population dropped by 5% in just two weeks because of COVID-19, a drop concentrated among white collar professionals and Wall Street workers. But it’s not just a New York City story as companies across the country have experimented with telework on a massive scale because of the pandemic. The question is what comes next. Will workplace norms snap back into place with knowledge economy workers continuing to cluster in high cost of living urban areas? Or will the future of the workplace remain remote, with a growing number of white collar professionals working from home at least part of the week? But cities rely heavily on high income taxpayers to fund government services and to propel growth; even a small number exiting cities could have vast ripple effects. Cato economist Peter Van Doren joins the show to discuss the possible de-urbanization of America and offer some thoughts on what those effects might be. ## Further Reading: [Politicization of Disaster Relief](https://www.cato.org/blog/politicization-disaster-relief), written by Peter Van Doren \& David Kemp [The pandemic may forever change the world’s cities](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/05/20/pandemic-may-forever-change-worlds-cities/), written by Ishaan Tharoor ## Related Content: [The COVID-19 Economy](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/the-covid-19-economy), Free Thoughts Podcast [COVID on Campus](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/covid-on-campus), Building Tomorrow Podcast [COVID-19 Should Make Us Grateful for Technology](https://www.libertarianism.org/articles/covid-19-should-make-us-grateful-technology), written by Marian Tupy