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The spatial integration of prostitution in the city raises public order issues, because even if prostitution is tolerated, it must not be too visible. The aim is thus to control the space set aside for prostitution so that it does not submerge the entire city. In Hanoi, during the colonial period, the French authorities attempted to shut down, circumscribe and isolate prostitution areas, whereas the participants in the prostitution economy circulated, going beyond the boundaries imposed on them, and playing with these boundaries. Therefore, there was no “geography” of prostitution, but instead several spatial rationales that overlapped, intersected or even opposed one another. In contrast with the ideal of a closed, discreet and easily identifiable place, the reality was a scattered prostitution space, organised in a reticular pattern criss-crossing across the entire city.