I have pelvic floor tightness that has been exacerbated by starting Elvanse/Vyvanse, which means I often go from feeling nothing to suddenly feeling that I will wet myself if I don't find a toilet within 10 minutes, which is how I found this, the most persuasive argument I've ever seen against neoliberal austerity.
The main criticism of these kinds of urinals (yes, it's not the only one in London) is that they only serve able bodied and mostly cis men. I get the argument, but as an able bodied cis man (albeit one with a history of social anxiety) myself, I'd rather piss in the bushes. Going in the bushes is at least discreet, whereas this urinal may as well have a billboard saying "This motherfucker's got his cock out."
Edit: I did some further research and found this article from the BBC that says Westminster (the London borough containing Soho, Oxford Street, and many other major shopping and nightlife areas) only has 8 public restrooms for it's 8.3 square miles. That's terrible, even if this isn't counted as one of those 8, which it shouldn't be.
i hate those things too, for so many reasons. with the discretion thing, they will never say it explicitly but those things are designed for people who are standard english drunk at the end of a night (absolutely fucking smashed)
Yes, central London has some "telescopic toilets" that come out of the ground in the evening in order to prevent drunks from urinating in public. They could also prevent everyone from urinating in public by providing 24/7 public restrooms that you don't have to be drunk to use.
lmao