Making Vulnerability Invisible: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Use of Public Space in Hong Kong

Abstract

Despite the growing body of work on how COVID-19 impacts the use of public space, few studies focused on vulnerable social groups. This article outlines a systematic analysis of the use of public space by migrant domestic workers before and after the pandemic outbreak in Hong Kong. The analysis reveals changes in behavioral patterns, and we discuss them as part of an ongoing conflictual renegotiation of rights and space alongside the dual nature of invisibility. The growing invisibility of migrant workers prompts unresolved questions of rights, spatial and recognitional justice, and acceptance of diversity in the global neoliberal city.