Hitchin Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We profile some of these businesses and organisations regularly in a feature called 'Up Close in Hitchin' while also encouraging opinion pieces from our readers and trusted contributors, including the outstanding Hitchin writer Neil Jensen.

So, read on for Neil's latest opinion pieces as he analyses the future of towns and cities after the pandemic subsides and asks: What will be normal?

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There has been considerable talk about the definition of "normal" when the pandemic subsides and whether the crisis will become the catalyst for change.

There is every chance we will see work behaviours adjusting, social interaction more muted and an overall reluctance to be involved in mass transit.

One thing Covid has taught us is that the human race can still be vulnerable to contagion and that, quite swiftly, we can be thrust into an environment that resembles a sci-fi movie.

Anyone who walked around London at the height of Lockdown 1.0 will recall a landscape of bleakness and tumbleweed.

As for commuters, will they be quite so keen to travel from Hitchin to Kings Cross, hop on a tube (squeeze on a tube, sorry…) and take their chance with mask-wearing travellers?

According to Transport for London, the average number of passengers on a tube per square metre is between five and six.

Try it yourself – chalk on your patio a square metre then invite the six people you're allowed to mix with into that space.

It's amazing that we have tolerated such conditions for so long and without much complaint.

Commuters get a rough deal – around £ 4,000 per year (out of net income) for a sub-standard service.

What other form of personal finance is so willingly given away without any questioning about the sort of service you get in exchange for your hard-earned cash?

What will the aftermath of the pandemic look like in provincial small towns like Hitchin?

There's a good chance more and more people will be working from their homes in the future.

I've come across a number who have been told by their employer they are not required to return to an office based arrangement – ever.

Some companies are looking to trim down their real estate portfolios and have realised they do not need expensive, London-based properties.

This could spark a minor revolution in working practices and therefore, should also shape the town of the future.

Living and working in the same place has its drawbacks and in a small town, you could contract what amounts to "Island fever".

From a personal perspective, I am grateful I worked in London for so long, meeting people from all corners of the globe, learning about their cultures and customs.

I know that if I had worked and lived in Hitchin, I would have missed out on some important influences that have helped shaped my opinions and lifestyle.

I think there's an opportunity for towns like Hitchin to meet the demand for future employment in the form of work and leisure space reassessment.

There's enough areas around the town in need of an overhaul and it would be nice to think that, in keeping with the zeitgeist, rewilding could transform some of the green spaces that are a little neglected and forgotten.

I know of one close to my home that could be repurposed from its current role as a narcotics dealership zone, occasional flytip and motorbike rat run, to encourage wildlife and foliage!

A town centre with fewer or no cars could also encourage more footfall and provide more space for walking and allow the town to really breathe.

There also needs to be more commitment from people to keep Hitchin tidy, be it in the centre or on the outskirts.

There has been a dramatic influx of seagulls in the neighbourhood recently and there's a reason – they are scavengers looking for rich pickings!

It needs planners with imagination and of course, money, which is doubtless in short supply after the economic shock of the pandemic, but in my opinion, Hitchin has to modernise itself to be fit-for-purpose for the 21st century, combining its ancient charm with the requirements of a world in transition.