The Mutually Fulfilling Cities Project: a caring framework for public space

Abstract

Parents today are spending more time on childcare than prior generations. At the same time, the US Surgeon General has declared a mental health crisis among American parents. This thesis offers the concept of Mutual Fulfillment as an anchor point for embedding caring city goals in urban spatial practice. The project asks: what spatial types and design components enable the need fulfillment of primary caregivers while they perform care in public space, and how can they best be distributed at the city-wide and site-specific scales? It has two key parts: (1) grounding research using an autoethnographic study and survey of primary caregivers in the Greater Boston Area; and (2) a practical framework for spatializing the concept of mutual fulfillment so that public spaces can care for caregivers, while caregivers care for children.