Guangzhou plans unisex toilets for low-usage men's restrooms

The urban management and law enforcement authority in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, is soliciting public opinions on transforming some men's public toilets under low usage into unisex toilets.

According to the Layout Plan of Public Toilets in Guangzhou (2024-35), relevant departments encourage the city's public toilets with an unreasonable ratio of male and female cubicles, low efficiency in the use of male toilets, or a need for upgrading, to be transformed into unisex toilets in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, according to the layout plan, authorities encourage the construction of child-friendly public toilets with humanized service facilities.

The plan is published on the official website of the city's urban management and law enforcement. Experts, scholars and residents can provide feedback to the bureau via email until Dec 24 if they have any suggestions regarding the construction of public toilets in the city.

The layout plan estimates that Guangzhou needs between 6,405 and 10,675 public toilets. The current total number of public toilets in the city has already met the standard requirements, but uneven distribution problems and an unreasonable ratio of male and female toilet cubicles exist.

Therefore, the layout plan mainly focuses on the areas with insufficient coverage of public toilets and aims to fill the gap by adding and expanding public toilets.

By 2035, based on the existing public toilets, the city plans to build and expand a total of 933 public toilets.