Plague, cholera and tuberculosis have all left marks on urban architecture. The Economistwrites that this may not be the case with the current epidemic. If covid-19 can be run to ground in a couple of years, the urban fabric might not change much. Plague, cholera and tuberculosis worked on cities slowly. They forced change because people believed they would return or never leave. By contrast, many people hope that coronavirus will be defeated fairly quickly. In the first country it attacked, some urban adaptations have already been undone. In China many apartment blocks acquired shelves where delivery drivers could leave food and other goods. Almost as soon as the lockdowns lifted, they were taken down.