Urbanisation poses challenges for youth migrant workers

By Maliha Fairooz 

Ruchaphum Panichsombat is passionate about the effects of urban space on young people. Whilst speaking about this in the Case for Space conference in Bangkok, he mentioned how in highly urbanised cities like Hong Kong, where there are only 1.5 square metres of public space per person, ever increasing urbanisation poses challenges in accessing public spaces, particularly for those from poorer backgrounds.

UNESCAP says the population in the Asia-Pacific region will become more than 50% urban by 2018. Photo: Busan, Republic of Korea. UN Photo/Kibae Park

Foreign domestic workers make up 4.6 per cent of the population in Hong Kong, the overwhelming majority of whom are young women, but they remain almost invisible. Panichsombat pointed out that “A lot of them (foreign domestic workers) are 23–30 years old, who are considered youth.” They lack access to private spaces both at work and the place where they live. “This creates a strong demand for a public space because they want to get out of the host’s house to enjoy their life”, said Panichsombat.

According to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the population in the Asia and the Pacific region will become more than 50 per cent urban by 2018. This can mean that there is a sharp decrease in the amount of public space available per person per city. But what does this form of rapid urbanisation mean for poorer young people in this region and their access to public and civic spaces?

Panichsombat feels that Hong Kong is a special case when it comes to urbanisation. “Hong Kong was considered a borrowed land during the colonial times. Because the British knew that they would have to give it back to China like a hundred years later. Thats why the urban development was devoted for economic development rather than well being, having space for the people.” Hong Kong is very centralised, with most of the malls and other public spaces restricted to those from poorer backgrounds. Migrant workers often find themselves gathering in the city centre to socialise, cook and eat together.

Workers often resort to using cartons or boxes to create some form of a privacy whilst sharing vastly public areas. Access to privacy is considered a human right, but there is very little consideration for it in cities like Hong Kong for key young populations. Panichsombat firmly believes, “they deserve the right to privacy and the right to be in an environment where civic space is given to them in order to be citizens who can contribute to society.”

(Copyright: UNESCO/Maliha Fairooz — this content was first published as part of the Youth Newsroom of the Regional Roundtable “Youth at the Heart of the Agenda 2030: The Case for Space” here:http://www.case4space.org/newsroom)