How COVID-19 Has Redistributed Human Mobility

Abstract

The pandemic has ushered in drastic new restrictions on the right to move, as governments have imposed lockdowns in more or less organized ways. In pursuit of its zero-COVID policy, China has gone farther than most in the extent and rigor of its mobility restrictions. Responsibility for enforcement has been redistributed to lower-level officials, landlords, and migrant labor agencies, while food delivery companies and others in the mobility business have thrived. These redistributions of mobility are likely to remain in place beyond the pandemic, changing relations between government and citizens.