“The first part of the document, approved today, is research-based. We looked into what matters to Prague residents when it comes to public toilets and how other cities address this issue,” says Ondřej Boháč, Director of IPR Prague. “The most important aspects turned out to be good accessibility and, above all, cleanliness.”

For the system to function properly, people should have public toilets within 300 meters. At present, only a small part of the city meets this standard. “It is important that the analysis examine various operating models — from building new toilets, to making existing ones in public buildings accessible, and also options involving cafés or shopping centers,” says Deputy Mayor for Territorial and Strategic Development Petr Hlaváček.

Toilets in shopping centers are currently the most popular among Prague residents, mainly due to their cleanliness. However, according to the document approved today, a key issue is that people must often pay to use these toilets, which can be a barrier for those with lower incomes as well as for the growing number of people who do not carry cash. Another option would be to enable the use of toilets in cafés and restaurants under agreed conditions.

“Building new toilets by the city would be lengthy and costly, as the city would likely have to maintain them itself. That is why I welcome a model in which the city collaborates with restaurants to provide toilets free of charge based on an agreement, and informs the public accordingly. The toilets must, however, be accessible to all residents, including people with disabilities,” says Adam Zábranský, Councilor for Property, Transparency and Legislation.

IPR Prague’s Office of Public Space will now begin work on the second part of the document, which will set out specific proposals for how many public toilets Prague should have, where they should be located, and what they should look like.