New Public Pissoirs In Paris Are Problematic

Parisians are complaining, but the fact is that people need a place to pee; it’s a human right.

Over a year ago, Matt Hickman described new “compost-generating public urinals” being installed for a “dry run” in Paris, to deal with the problem of men who pee in the streets.

Two were installed outside Gare de Lyon, France’s third busiest rail station, and an SNCF maintenance official is quoted as saying “I am optimistic it will work. Everyone is tired of the mess."

Now, 18 months later, it seems that they did not quite work as planned. Les Uritrottoirs were put in very prominent, exposed locations and everyone can see men peeing; many are upset by this, but according to the inventor, this was done on purpose. He’s quoted in AFP:

They are also not turning out to be the pretty gardens that Matt showed in his post.

Indeed, when you look at almost every photo, there is a trail of urine leading away into the street. The units are supposed to be serviced every three weeks, to change the straw, but was that enough? Was the design flawed? Or are people just jerks?

These are all serious questions that go far beyond the issue of this particular design. Public urination is an obvious problem among young men who drink too much, but access to a place to pee is a serious issue for everyone, particularly for aging men and women. I have written on that “a place to pee is a human need, as much as a place to walk. And while boomer men have a particular interest in the subject, the reality is that everyone should have access to a toilet.”

We can all laugh and make oui-oui jokes about Paris plastic pissoirs, but this is a serious urban issue.