The modern era of active urbanization actualizes the study of city-wide processes. But back in the days of policies, Aristotle wrote that “Cities are people, not buildings”, so you should first focus on the features of the urban lifestyle of a city man (Homo Urbanus), its existence and ways for adapting to intense tempo and megaspace. Extraordinary situations that can change quickly and dramatically the city are of special scientific interest: social and natural disasters, revolutions, wars, strikes, epidemics, special life conditions. The main purpose of this publication is to invite a reader to analyze and discuss problems of what worldview positions the current shock can bring us – the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown Keywords: Homo Urbanus, lockdown, metropolis, “third places”, online communication, smart-city