1 . A small but shining silver lining: The corona-virus has quickened the shift to pedal power in Europe. The German Cycling Association (ADFC) reports that Germans across the country are spending twice as much time biking as they were before the COVID-19. There is growing demand for bikes and shared-bike subscriptions, and now even shortages throughout bicycle supply chain. For bike shops it's an unexpected boom. So much so that it requires cities to improve their biking facilities.

In unimagined numbers, bikes are starting to take the place of cars in our cities. It has increased 930 miles of new bike lanes (车道) in Europe, “muscling aside cars on Europe’s city streets,” according to European Cyclists Federation. Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands are pioneering fast lanes for riders. “Pop-up lanes” are being used for bikes in Berlin and Paris; Rome has painted new bike lanes, in each case taking away lanes from cars.

Women riders are reportedly another big factor in the biking transformation. E-bikes are, too. E-bikes use an onboard battery to boost power when the rider is going up a hill, or just needs a rest. E-bikes have removed “the sweat factor”. Who wants to show up to work or a party sweaty?

The European Cyclists’ Federation states that bikes are also strongly supported by European governments to cut carbon and increase the quality of their cities. European countries provide direct financial stimulation for cyclists.

At the end of April, France announced a 20 million Euro plan to promote cycling after the end of the lockdown. The plan includes 50 Euro vouchers (代金券) for the repair of a bike. Italy worked on a regulation for Covid recovery, by means of which 120 million Euro was set aside to cover 70% and up to 500 Euro of the price of conventional, muscle-powered and electric bikes.

3 . At about 54, the average age of retirement in China is among the lowest in the world. This is a problem. Since standards were set. life expectancy has increased while the number of working adults-those whose labor, in fact, supports retirees--has begun to drop.

But persuading people to work longer is proving hard. In 2008 the government said it was thinking about raising retirement ages, but backed away with a public protest. Now it feels it can wait no longer.

The pressure to act is evident. Current retirement ages were set in the 1950s, when the average person was expected to die before reaching that stage. For most men in China the age is6o, much lower than the average of 64.2 in the OECD, a club mostly of rich countries. Yet life expectancy in China is now just two years short of the OECD average of 79, so Chinese retirees on a state pension (养老金) usually needs several more years of support from government funds than those in rich world.

In 2019 the public-pension system covered almost 1billion adults, more than any other such organization in the world. The country’s main pension fund may run out of money by 2035, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, an official think-tank, has warned.

The government appears not yet to have decided how to reform the system. The current five-year economic plan contains merely a sentence on the topic, calling for adjustment in “small steps”. But its inclusion means that changes are all but certain to begin before the plan ends in 2025. After the plan for older Chinese to work longer was revealed, it became a hot issue. On Weibo, posts tagged with “postpone the retirement age” have launched more than 100, 000 discussions. Many comments have been critical. In 2020 a survey of 96, 000 people found that more than 80% opposed later retirement. They wondered whether they would have the strength to keep working into their 60s.

4 . People's relationship with work is complex. For all the troubles with the power-crazy managers and annoying colleagues, individuals need the security of a job. A century of research has actually shown that unemployment leads to anxiety, depression and reduced sense of self-worthiness. On average, it has an even greater effect than divorce.

But how much work do we need to do to feel happy?

A recent paper by the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge University took the opportunity of the current health crisis to examine the impact of reduced working hours on mental health. Many British employees were placed in a furlough scheme (休假计划) during the lockdown, under which their working hours were reduced and their wage losses were paid by the government.

The study concludes that people working reduced hours do not have poorer mental health. But what is particularly surprising is how little work is needed to keep people happy. The requirement for better mental health is just one day a week. After that, it seems to make little difference to individuals' well- being if they work 24 hours or 48 hours a week. The increased satisfaction from working clearly comes from the feeling of purpose, from the social status it creates and from the close relationship among colleagues.

Clearly, economies cannot survive if everyone works one day a week. But the need to limit long working hours was realized back in Victorian times. For much of the 20th century the length of the average working week fell while output continued to climb.

There will be occasions when people have to work late or rise early to finish a project. Day after day, however, a long-working-hours lifestyle is bad for the employers and employees. Some managers seem to take working longer hours as a sign of an employee's willingness to put their job ahead of their families and friends. If so, the employers don't need to have better employees. They need better managers.

5 . A year of lockdown has brought about some questionable fashion trends. In US suburbs, bathrobes and slippers are now socially-acceptable clothing for a trip to the grocery store.   

Ugly shoes are also having moment. Crocs the maker of plastic clogs(木屐) now with market worth of $5. 3 billion, had a record 2020. The distinctive shoes, with their punch(打孔机) hole design, have long been popular with hospital staff. During the COVID-19 outbreak, they have become a sought-after item for those looking for something easy to wear and clean.   

The company sold more than 69 million pairs of shoes in 2020 and pulled in nearly $1. 4 billion, a 13% jump from 2019. The share price, up 650 percent from its pandemic low, has set repeated new highs this year.

Birkenstock is another brand riding high on the shift to a more casual lifestyle. The German group recently sold itself to a LVMH-backed group in a 4 billion deal.

The two brands' popularity shows no sign of fading. Poshmark, the second-hand clothing app, said Crocs and Birkenstock remained top trending brands on its site in March. Sales are up sharply for both compared with the year-ago period. Cooperation with celebrities (Justin Bieber for Crocs, women's brand Proenza Schouler for Birkenstock) should help maintain the trend.

The same cannot be said for dress shoes, which were already falling out of fashion. Office closures and fewer special occasions such as weddings and graduations have accelerated the trend. Sales for the category plummeted last year, according to market researchers The NPD Group. These accounted for only 8% of total fashion footwear dollar sales in 2020, compared with 17% in 2017.   

People will soon reach again for going-out clothes, more formal than pyjamas. But the market for dress shoes will never recover entirely. The ugly shoe movement is here to stay.

7 . As cities around the world try to be smart, some have become stupid instead.

So, what is a “stupid city”? It is a city that gives in to urban sprawl( 扩张), with people moving from central areas to less-crowded communities, said Mr. Nicholas You, a director of the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation in China. Such communities are heavily reliant on cars.

Another problem Mr. You stressed is that public administration bodies in “stupid cities’’ tend to work alone, refusing to share data that could help develop solutions to urban problems. He made the point during a discussion on urban transformation in Asia, saying, “A real smart city is one that looks at everything as a whole—you can’t look at water issues without looking at energy.”

A South Korean member, Mr. Jong Sung Hwang, suggested that some of the biggest barriers to creating a smart city are cultural. South Korean society is less forgiving of mistakes, noted Mr. Jong. For example, some in Seoul tried to push for an intelligent traffic system but were met with resistance from the police. He said, “We have ideas, data and even money, but we could not make it happen.”

India, however, is not adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to create smart cities for its 1.3 billion people, said a member from India.

In Singapore, which launched its Smart Nation initiative( 行 动 ) in 2014, the authorities fear that technology can worsen the divide between the haves and the have-nots, said Dr. Limin Hee, director for research at the Centre for Liveable Cities here. “Thankfully, many cities are considering such issues as how to make better use of data and technology to create smart cities,” she added.

8 . Japan recently lowered its voting age from 20 to 18. This decision was in part to help young people feel more engaged in politics. But it may also signal the change of social views regarding the beginning of adulthood.

Adulthood has traditionally been defined by a combination of age and the achievement of social milestones. Most countries have a legally defined age to determine when a person becomes an adult---the age of majority. In Australia, most states consider a person to be an adult in court at 18. The age of 18 is also consistent with other adult privileges, such as the right to purchase alcohol and to marry. However, 17-year-olds can serve in the army and get a driver’s license. The law defines adulthood on the basis of age and it also recognizes the process of becoming an adult as involving gradually in social responsibility. This legal approach to adulthood is mirrored in other countries, where there are differences between the age of majority and social responsibilities given to young people.

Socially, determinants of adulthood traditionally focus on a person taking increasing responsibility for their lives in various ways. Completing school, taking full-time employment, getting married and parenthood---these are all observable indicators to determine when a person is viewed as an adult.

Since the 1980s, however, people have achieved some of these observable milestones at later ages. Increased access to education has delayed young people leaving home and develop romantic relationships. Economic changes have also resulted in unstable employment markets and increases in costs of living, prompting many young people to remain at home and depended on parents.

Due to these social changes, our expectations of young people and their level of social responsibility have also changed. The recognition of a new life stage---emerging adulthood---has been recommended to account for the changes to social milestones that have traditionally represented adulthood.

9 . Loneliness is a widespread problem with complex roots.

There has been a quiet pandemic developing while most people's attention has been on covid-19. The lockdown has worsened a problem that has been spreading in many developed nations for decades: loneliness.

It is a complex issue which covers not only social lives, but the way you work and the way you vote. Noreena Hertz, an academic, deals with the subject in an important new book, "The Lonely Century". Loneliness increases the risk of heart disease, strokes and dementia(痴呆症). Those who say they are lonely are likelier to be depressed five years later. In addition, lonely people can become more hostile towards others and more attracted to extremist politics.

Part of the problem stems from contemporary employment. Globally, two in five office workers feel lonely at work. This rises to three in five in Britain. Gig-economy(零工经济)jobs can leave people with insecure incomes and without the companionship of colleagues. The pandemic has made it more difficult to make, and maintain friendships, particularly for new employees.

Ms.Hertz points her finger at other recent developments. One of them is social media. The internet has led to much cyber-bullying (although it has also been a source of companionship during the lockdown). And people glued to their smartphones spend less time interacting socially.

Some changes in behavior are caused by individual choice. Before the pandemic no one was stopping people going to church or taking part in sports. They simply preferred to do other things. American fathers spend three times as much time with their children as they did in the 1960s. That is surely a welcome development.

So recreating a communal society may be difficult. When the pandemic ends, people may enjoy the chance to be with their neighbors and colleagues for a while. But the trend is clear. Technology means that people can get their entertainment at home, and work there, too. It is convenient but it also leads to loneliness.