Unisex toilets become requisite throughout Zhuhai

Another 929 public toilets will be installed by 2020, each with a unisex area, according to the government's recent report: Zhuhai Public Toilets Specialized Plan (2015-20).

More than 300 newly built public toilets will be placed at government offices and 358 will be available elsewhere. Municipal public toilets will have 265 additions by 2020, and 41 installations had been completed as of the end of 2016. This year will see another 57 opened and over the following three years respectively a further 56, 70, and 41 will be in use.

A unisex, or gender-inclusive or all-gender public toilet, is required at each facility. It is specially designed to benefit the disabled, elderly, and anyone who requires help from someone of another gender, or wishes to give such assistance, including parents who accompany children.

The plan takes into consideration the needs of various groups, and is meant to provide user-friendly and human-oriented service, according to an official with the Urban Utilities, Landscaping & Forestry Bureau.

Interior facilities in a unisex restroom

Toilets to renovate must have at least one seat for the disabled, but a unisex cubicle is the main priority. Social and government offices are asked to ensure that all their toilets include one for unisex service.

The size of ladies' rooms will be increased with 1 ½ times as many seats as that in men's rooms. 

Newly added municipal public toilets will be constructed at the first-grade level. Third-grade municipal public toilets will be upgraded to second grade or higher. 

Central urban areas, peripheral new towns, Hengqin New Area, islands and other important locations will mainly be provided with first-grade public toilets while other areas will receive second-grade facilities.

The program creates a well-established public toilet service system based on urban and rural integrated planning, according to an official.

Reasonable layouts, standardized construction and improved services, plus humanized designs will make toilets more pleasant to use, the official added. The program meets the overall objective of building up Zhuhai as a National Economic Special Zone, coastal scenery tourist city, and core city on the west bank of the Pearl River.

Sign for a unisex toilet [Photos courtesy Zhuhai Daily]