Urbanization in China tends to be depicted in terms of towering skyscrapers and multi-lane highways — cities stretching upward and outward — with little consideration given to the vast but less visible urban infrastructure, such as toilets and sewers, that shapes and is shaped by the daily lives of its residents.
Until the 2010s, toilets were still common in Chinese urban life, with families sharing a wooden toilet. Mutton Bucket or enamel TanyuThe collected waste was then transported to suburban and rural areas for agricultural use.
In 2015, President Xi Jinping launched a nationwide toilet revolution. By 2020, city councils had built an additional 68,000 public toilets, and it was reported that by the end of 2022, 73% of rural residents would have access to a flush toilet.
But as research has shown over the years, urban development, and the access it brings to modern sanitation, is unequal: When plans are made to redevelop poor areas, indoor sanitation is often not considered a priority.
Residents of older, poorer urban areas still rely on toilets and local waste collection services, and not all newer neighborhoods are connected to the city’s sewer network, so some rely on septic tanks that must be emptied frequently.
Attitudes are also slowly changing: in both new and old neighbourhoods, locals often blame immigrants for poor hygiene in public places, which can lead to discrimination and sometimes intimidation.
In our recent research, we explored how hygiene in the east coast city of Shanghai is shaped by socio-economic inequalities. We found that hygiene is not simply a matter of cleanliness, but also about power, culture and social norms.
Daily Hygiene
Between 2019 and 2022, our research team visited six diverse districts in central Shanghai and interviewed 54 residents of different genders, ages, and origins.
We wanted to understand how cultural and social norms are ingrained in people’s everyday hygiene practices, and to what extent existing sanitation infrastructure meets people’s needs, but also how this infrastructure and people’s practices create and reproduce inequalities.
It turns out that hygiene habits are not just biological rhythms, but are linked to the rhythms of daily life: Residents without flushing toilets at home must schedule trips to public restrooms between shopping trips, walks, and exercise.
In other older neighborhoods, instead of public toilets, toilets may be shared by multiple households in a building or on the same street, and residents should plan their trips to avoid busy times, such as before or after work.
In older neighborhoods and areas scheduled for redevelopment, people still use toilets, which they empty twice a day at collection points: in the morning before going to work and at night before going to bed.
China’s rapid urbanization is bringing an unprecedented influx of rural migrants to Shanghai and other cities. Long-time residents of old neighborhoods we spoke to repeatedly said that rural-urban migrants are often overworked and pressed for time, and don’t always follow local customs when disposing of trash.
For example, some people cover their toilets with plastic bags and then throw the contents, together with the bag, into collection points, which often leads to clogged and overflowing toilets, posing a serious public health hazard. “City residents blame migrant workers for dirtying public toilets,” said Lu*, a migrant worker and resident.
Migrant workers, on the other hand, criticise those who still use urinals in these old areas, as in their home villages and towns this archaic system – which they consider backward – has long since been replaced by private or shared toilets.
Shanghai’s sanitation infrastructure, 1995-2019
Public or shared toilets often lack facilities for women, such as disposal of menstrual products. Chu, a 25-year-old migrant worker, said she felt helpless when she was pregnant because public toilets only had urinals, not toilets with seats. So her husband installed a flush toilet for her in the house they rented.
DIY toilet installation is tolerated by local governments and is a common practice, but these toilets are often connected directly to storm sewers, which can lead to unpleasant odors, sewage overflows and even drinking water contamination.
Connecting to a septic tank brings other challenges, including economic disincentives, said Yu, a 70-year-old local resident. Instead of emptying the tank completely, sanitation workers seem to prefer to visit more frequently because it’s more profitable, she said.
In agriculture, the shift to water systems, sanitation via sewer networks, and chemical fertilizers has reduced the value of human waste. Sanitation professionals are no longer interested in maximizing the amount of waste they collect.
Private flush toilets are generally more common in wealthy areas. This has led to new social norms and hygiene practices: Men and boys are expected to put the toilet seat down after urinating, for the convenience of women and girls.
Parents use toilet seat covers to prevent children from transmitting germs through direct contact with water and toilet flushing droplets.
Qiu, a 33-year-old man, said the birth of his first child has changed his outlook on hygiene: “My wife carefully selected hygiene products for our baby, which has made us pay more attention to personal hygiene.”
This change in attitude has resulted in an increase in the popularity of hygiene products such as wet wipes, tissues, seat covers etc. This has obviously led to an increase in the production and disposal of (solid) waste.
But even in areas where private toilets are available, toilets haven’t disappeared entirely: Yu said older people in his neighbourhood still tend to keep them by their bedside.
This is not just a matter of convenience, but also of nostalgia and cultural heritage. Traditionally, the humble toilet bowl (aka: DescendantsThe descendant jar is a precious item given by the bride’s family as a wedding gift to the Han Chinese. In a rapidly changing world, the descendant jar continues to have a meaning beyond personal hygiene.
*All names in this article have been changed to protect the anonymity of interviewees.
Deryana Iosifova is Professor at the University of Manchester and Qi Liu is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
