Zeeland town Veere most toilet-friendly municipality in Netherlands
The town of Veere in Zeeland is the most toilet-friendly municipality in the Netherlands, according to the annual survey of the Stomach-Liver-Intestine Foundation (MLDS) and the HogeNood app. In Veere, people are most likely to be able to find a public toilet if they need to go.
Utrecht came in second place this year, followed by Schiermonnikoog, Alkmaar, and Rotterdam. Druten, last year’s number one, dropped to 21st place.
MLDS and HogeNood rank the Dutch municipalities yearly based on standards set by the Toilet Alliance, of which the MLDS is a member. The goal is a public toilet every 500 meters in areas with more than 2,000 pedestrians per day, a toilet every 25 kilometers along cycling paths, and every 5 kilometers along hiking routes. The municipalities can get a total of 1,000 points based on six indicators, including the number of toilets per resident, accessibility of public toilets, and municipal policy on public restrooms.
The municipality of Veere made significant improvements this year, jumping from 27th place on the ranking last year. It is the first municipality to score higher than an 8 out of 10, achieving 824 out of the possible 1,000 points. According to a spokesperson for MLDS, the municipality worked closely with HogeNood and asked the Toilet Alliance for advice. “Because of this, they knew exactly what to do. The next step is to also make policy now so that the municipality remains toilet-friendly in the future.”
The biggest climber in the ranking is Geldrop-Mierlo, which climbed from 310th to 185th place. Utrecht is the best-ranked large city in 2nd place, followed by Rotterdam in 5th, and Amsterdam in 8th. The Hague is much lower on the list, in 77th place.
The MLDS usually announces the results of its annual ranking on or near World Toilet Day, which is tomorrow, November 19th.
