Washhouses where women wash. A contradictory and diffuse space in urban policies

The globalization process, characterised by major worldwide interrelation and dependency, is entailing increasingly uniform economic, technological and cultural aspects. Territory nevertheless continues to be a different reality in each part of the planet due to natural factors (geomorphology, soil or climate), but also to human practices transforming this to adapt to local needs and circumstances. Each area thus generates diverse life experiences whose memory is reflected in the landscape, in urban areas or heritage, giving each place its specific character and identity. One of the determining factors in forming the landscape is water and it seems a universal fact that women are assigned many tasks involving water. In this curious interrelation between global and local spheres the study of washhouses is used for comprehensively characterising a particular landscape but with a specific use of space than concerns women’s work conditions and memory. The New Urban Agenda could provide a better sustainable urbanization linked with that.