Access to essential services. Migrants’ landing during lockdown

This chapter investigates the processes and spaces of arrival of migrant populations and their access to essential services. Assuming the city of Palermo, in Italy, as a context of observation, the work focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic has been an amplifier of existing obstacles and effective responses. Particularly, the contribution argues that, in many cases, actors’ preparedness towards unpredictable changes has been linked to their discretionary power in implementing existing regulatory frameworks, and it discusses this through the concept of preparedness.