Instinctively I want to rally against this — 30 minutes seems arbitrary and, especially when living in a large city like London or New York, unrealistic. Wouldn’t we all be chronically lonely all of the time, not just in lockdown, if this were the case? Wouldn’t friendship feel fickle and baseless? Then again, surveys have consistently found that big city dwellers do feel lonely ( this one on London, for example, found that 55% of those polled said the city could feel like a lonely place to live). And of course, while we’ve been unable to travel to meet friends these last few months, those who are within walking distance have, for many, become lifelines.