Five years after the delayed Tokyo Olympics, one of its less obvious legacies is likely the world's most advanced public toilets. Seventeen architects transformed conveniences across the city into what Kengo Kuma called "must-see attractions," including a design with clear-glass cubicles that become opaque when occupied. German film director Wim Wenders featured them in his 2023 film Perfect Days, about a cleaner.
A public realm where human needs are treated with such dignity deserves celebration. However, new toilets do not have to be architectural icons. The key is having enough of them, maintained properly.
This week, a report from the Royal Society for Public Health reveals that in England, this is far from reality. Analysis of 221 freedom of information requests to councils shows the number of public toilets nationally fell by 14% in a decade. People in other UK nations are, on average, better served: while England has 15,481 people per toilet, Scotland and Wales have 8,500 and 6,748 respectively. As earlier research indicated, the new data highlights significant variations between places. Some cash-strapped local authorities have abandoned facilities, creating lavatory "deserts," or handed them over to parish councils or community groups.
The Royal Society points out that this deficit has obvious social and sanitary effects, and likely economic ones too. When older or disabled people, or pregnant women, lack confidence in finding toilets, they may stay home. High streets, town centers, and parks become unwelcoming.
Since some groups are affected more than others, this is an issue of equality as well as hygiene, recognized for a long time. The Ladies Sanitary Association launched the first UK campaign for public women's toilets after initial facilities were for men only in the 19th century. More recently, disability and parental rights campaigners have succeeded in increasing accessible toilets, changing nappy spaces, and waste bins. For homeless people, who may have hostel beds but nowhere to go during the day, the need is particularly acute. Conveniences run by private businesses open only to customers do not fill the gap.
Like the London Assembly, which last year backed a motion for public toilets to become a statutory duty of councils, the Royal Society wants the government to provide dedicated funding for new facilities. Given local government finances and rising demand for services, this is unlikely soon. However, toilets are at the top of the list of local public realm improvements that the Ministry of Housing says are suitable for Pride in Place regeneration spending. Planning rules could also be reviewed to impose new duties on developers, though the biggest challenge is maintenance costs, not reluctance to build.
Using a lavatory is rarely the high point of anyone's day, except perhaps in Tokyo. But not finding one can make ordinary outings stressful. As part of Pride in Place and other regeneration schemes, councils, local MPs, and businesses should take pride in public loos.
