While East London, where most events were staged, was suddenly alive with activity, the rest of the city was often deserted as locals fled town and tourists stayed away.

WSJ: Social Media

New Orleans's employment picture is equally gloomy, since industry long ago deserted the city, leaving in its place a service economy that caters to tourists and that thrives on low-paying, transient, and unstable jobs.

NPR: 'The Great Deluge': A Katrina Post-Mortem

Christmas in Florence Not only is the city wonderfully deserted at this time of year, but the lights that adorn every shop window give the place an almost magical feeling.

CNN: The story

But the vast empty car park outside the Art of War City and its near-deserted courtyards suggest the town is struggling.

ECONOMIST: China abroad

By the mid-1990s, after the bankrupt Barings bank deserted its bondholders, he declared that the City could no longer claim the moral high ground.

ECONOMIST: A picture that is worth a million words

Much of Nairobi was quiet and deserted Wednesday, though clashes continued in the city's giant Mathare slum.

NPR: Political Standoff Fuels Ethnic Violence in Kenya

Today the main border-crossing near Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore is at times almost deserted.

ECONOMIST: India and its near-abroad

City's form deserted them drastically as McIndoe, James Coppinger and Paul Heffernan all scored for the hosts while Vassell hit the bar before Budtz saved from Antoine Sibierski and Dunne to take the hosts through.

BBC: SPORT | Football | League Cup | Doncaster 1-1 Man City (aet)