The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on global cities in particular. Many of the assets of global cities – connectivity, proximity, agglomeration – almost overnight proved also to be vulnerabilities. As cities emerge from the pandemic into the economic recovery phase, their underlying strengths are beginning to re-emerge. But cities, and city policies, have also been changed by the pandemic, and cities will need to adapt and adjust to address some of these issues, particularly regarding urban inequalities, which the experience of the pandemic has exposed. In this talk, Professor Mark Kleinman of King’s College London discussed these issues with a particular focus on London UK, but drawing also on comparative evidence.