To many citizens in Euro-American countries today, invisibility is what defines good health interventions and functionality: from infrastructures, waste management, food production, to the more contested areas of dealing with (mental) illness, the elderly and the dead. At the same time, such a perception often ignores the fact that health-promoting activities and the pursuit of a clean and comfortable living environment in one place create hazardous circumstances elsewhere, for unknown others. The COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the world in 2020, has created a range of new or renewed visibilities, and a new awareness of the impact of prophylactic practices. It has emphasised how much public health relates to the organisation and use of urban space, and that measures to protect a population’s health profoundly affect daily lives, work, travel, education, social relations and local economies.