2026 Theses Master's

Caring for the In-Between: Investigating Care Infrastructure for Adult Third-Culture Kids in Singapore and New York City

Hartono, Samantha

The acceleration of globalization has transformed how capital, labor, and talent move across borders, prompting cities to increasingly position themselves as hubs of economic mobility and international connectivity. Yet while substantial attention has been given to building the systems that sustain economic globalization, how much attention is given to whether the social and urban systems supporting these globally mobile populations are evolving at a comparable rate and pace? What kinds of urban environments can emerge when mobility becomes normalized?

This thesis examines these questions through the experiences of Adult Third Culture Kids (ATCKs), individuals shaped by sustained movement across cultures during formative years. Positioned between places, ATCKs reveal broader tensions between mobility and rootedness, global integration and everyday social support, while exposing how cities often celebrate cosmopolitanism yet leave the navigation of belonging highly individualized. Using Singapore as the primary case study and New York City as a contrasting urban context, the research explores how differing governance structures, planning cultures, and social infrastructures shape experiences of care, belonging, and legibility for globally mobile populations. Findings suggest that belonging emerges not solely through territorial attachment, but through the spatial and institutional conditions that enable relational continuity across mobility and transitions. Singapore’s centralized systems provide clearer pathways to support but may reinforce social boundaries, while New York City’s decentralized landscape offers greater diversity alongside increased reliance on individual navigation.

Urban planning must thereby move beyond its traditional emphasis on economic competitiveness, land use coordination, and physical development to more directly engage the social conditions produced by global mobility. Rather than treating care solely as healthcare or welfare provision, the project positions it as a spatial and institutional capacity embedded within housing, public space, educational systems, social infrastructure, mobility networks, and the everyday organization of urban life. By reframing cities as care infrastructures, the thesis proposes a more mobility-responsive planning framework that recognizes globally mobile populations not as temporary exceptions within the city, but as increasingly central to contemporary urban life.