Public toilet provision for people with disabilities: a critical narrative literature review

Abstract

Away-from-home toileting facilities actively determine our idea of the natural and the social and, by extent, of belongingness and sense of self. Yet inequitable access to workable and flexibly accessible (i.e., works for many bodies) toileting facilities produces unreasonable restrictions in the everyday lives of many disabled persons. This critical narrative literature review is centred on the intersection of disabled bodies and public toilets and engages with the question, ‘How do inaccessible public toilets create exclusionary urban landscapes for people with disabilities?’ Review findings are organized around five inductively derived themes that emerged from a critical reading of the literature about public toilet provision and disability. These themes include: (1) Ableism and psychoemotional disablism, (2) Participation and inclusion, (3) Identity and personhood, (4) Geographic maturity and spatial scripts, and (5) Gender and gender identity. We find that a spectrum of ableist attitudinal and applied approaches define the public toilet space.