Seoul City Applies Universal Design to Public Restrooms at Guro 2-dong, Sinjeong 3-dong, and Mangwon 2-dong Community Centers

Door opened by foot, diaper changing stations in men's restrooms... 'Universal Design' in Seoul's public restrooms

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Public restrooms in Seoul will adopt a 'universal design' to ensure that all residents, including the elderly, people with disabilities, parents with infants, and foreigners, can use them safely and conveniently.

On the 14th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Universal Design Center announced that they have completed remodeling of aging public restrooms at the Guro 2-dong, Sinjeong 3-dong, and Mangwon 2-dong community service centers.

At the entrances, large pictograms indicating men's, women's, and multipurpose restrooms have been installed so that people with low vision or foreigners can easily find the restrooms. Automatic doors have replaced manual ones to facilitate access for users carrying luggage or accompanied by infants, and considering COVID-19 infection and hygiene, foot switches that open doors by pressing with the foot have been installed. The men's restrooms have also been equipped with infant chairs and diaper changing tables, with heaters installed underneath the diaper changing tables to keep children warm.

At the Guro 2-dong community center, which has many foreign users, pictorial guide signs understandable without knowing Hangul were installed, and at the Sinjeong 3-dong community center, which has many users accompanied by infants, infant convenience facilities were enhanced, reflecting the characteristics of each location.

Additionally, to prevent illegal filming crimes, the partitions of the toilet stalls have been designed to be closed at both the top and bottom. In multipurpose restrooms, emergency bells have been installed in multiple locations such as the lower part of the walls and next to the diaper changing tables, allowing users to call for help in any emergency situation such as falling or sudden collapse.

Based on the universal design application cases of the three community centers, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Center produced a universal design application guidebook for citizen convenience spaces titled 'Public Restrooms Edition.' It has been distributed to 25 autonomous districts and city-affiliated organizations to serve as guidelines when installing or renovating public restrooms in both public and private sectors, and it has been posted on the Center’s website.

This project is the first in the newly launched citizen convenience space universal design initiative by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Center. This year, the initiative will expand to childcare convenience spaces such as nursing rooms. Through a public contest among autonomous districts, three locations including Jung-gu Eoullim Library were selected, and universal design-applied childcare convenience spaces will be piloted by the end of the year.

Lee Hye-young, Director of the Design Policy Division, said, “In the future, the targets of universal design should not only be people with disabilities but also the elderly population due to the advent of a super-aged society, young adults with children, foreigners, and children. We will apply universal design as a new standard starting with public spaces frequently used by citizens to create a safe and convenient environment for everyone.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.