via Google Earth

Without a doubt, 2020 was a difficult year. Since not being able to leave home, the virus itself, and the whole situation in the world was a dire year.

Something that we could surely visualize on a small and medium scale was the mobility of people, but did you ever wonder what big cities looked like during the first months of the pandemic?

Here we leave you a sample of cities like Madrid, New York, Tokyo, and others. Places that in normal situations are in some cases full of traffic and people, becoming ghost towns. Mainly in March 2020, and for more than two months, the world population was confined to their homes to stop the coronavirus spread.

The image we saw the most was long lines to supply food and gas stations, and particularly empty streets in the big cities.

 

Urban Planner Finds Shocking Lockdown Pictures On Google Earth

In Spain, the urban planner Antonio Giraldo supported by Google Earth made a compilation of the Spanish capital during March and April showing the almost zero circulation of people.

New York, the city that does not sleep, had to take a nap, many people reported on social media that have lived in the city for more than 30 years, they had never been able to park in Madison Square Garden. During 2020, cars parked in the place were the most common.

Japan, and specifically Tokyo had to host the Olympic games but everything was, of course, postponed. The city that had been prepared for this event was confined and a dramatic image.

One of the most popular places in Japan is the Shibuya crossing in front of Shibuya Station, in Tokyo, famous for being the most crowded crossing in the world was one of the most photographed places of 2020, but not for the reasons accustomed, a street has never seen before so empty.

In the images, you can see empty squares, streets, and parks, and thanks to an image retrieval option in Google Earth some of the images recalled years like 1985 when the population and circulation in large cities were much lower.