During the pandemic, China chose a “zero-COVID” policy — instead of letting the virus spread unchecked, they have implemented guidelines to tamp down on transmission. The goal has been to avoid large numbers of deaths and long-COVID patients, and the possibility of more aggressive variants. 

This approach has led to stringent restrictions on citizens, including lockdowns. In a new piece in New York Magazine Intelligencer, University of Michigan School of Information associate professor Silvia Lindtner, currently on sabbatical in Shanghai, and Dan Wang, technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, share what a recent lockdown has meant for the cosmopolitan city.

Shanghai has been the best-managed city in China throughout the pandemic, the authors note. Government officials used data-driven contact tracing and human coordination efforts to keep outbreaks controlled. But rising cases in March changed that approach, and triggered more restrictive methods.

A partial, staggered lockdown soon became an indefinite and all-encompassing shutdown. Lindtner and Wang described the lockdown as “draconian.” Residents were prohibited from leaving their apartments, food was in short supply, and tensions were high. 

The restrictions have been extended indefinitely and the authors note that there is now a longer-term question about the fate of Shanghai. They argue that the city traditionally has been one of China’s most economically dynamic and culturally open places, but its future is now in question.

“Following the lockdown, the city risks losing its special status, either because it has alienated many of its residents or because the central leadership can tolerate less autonomy.” 

Read “Locked Down in Shanghai,” on nymag.com.

Learn more about associate professor Silvia Lindtner.