Beginning with the foundations of community development, An Introduction to Community Development offers a comprehensive and practical approach to planning for communities. Road-tested in the authors’ own teaching, and through the training they provide for practicing planners, it enables students to begin making connections between academic study and practical know-how from both private and public sector contexts. An Introduction to Community Development shows how planners can utilize local economic interests and integrate finance and marketing considerations into their strategy. Most importantly, the book is strongly focused on outcomes, encouraging students to ask: what is best practice when it comes to planning for communities, and how do we accurately measure the results of planning practice? This newly revised and updated edition includes: increased coverage of sustainability issues, discussion of localism and its relation to community development, quality of life, community well-being and public health considerations, and content on local food systems. Each chapter provides a range of reading materials for the student, supplemented with text boxes, a chapter outline, keywords, and reference lists, and new skills based exercises at the end of each chapter to help students turn their learning into action, making this the most user-friendly text for community development now available.

Introduction to Community Development provides students of community and economic development with a theoretical and practical introduction to the field of community development. Bringing together leading scholars in the field of community development, the book follows the curriculum needs in offering a progression from theory to practice, beginning with a theoretical overview, an historical overview, and the various approaches to community development.

A comprehensive approach focused on sustainable change Asset Building and Community Development, Fourth Edition examines the promise and limits of community development by showing students and practitioners how asset-based developments can improve the sustainability and quality of life. Authors Gary Paul Green and Anna Haines provide an engaging, thought-provoking, and comprehensive approach to asset building by focusing on the role of different forms of community capital in the development process. Updated throughout, this edition explores how communities are building on their key assets—physical, human, social, financial, environmental, political, and cultural capital— to generate positive change. With a focus on community outcomes, the authors illustrate how development controlled by community-based organizations provides a better match between assets and the needs of the community.

With the topics of community and how local communities can be supported to take control of their lives, services, and environment still high on the public agenda, this second edition of an invaluable guide provides a timely introduction to community development, its origins, and the different forms it takes. Updated to reflect developments in policy and practices, current trends and challenges, as well as recent debates about the changing nature of community itself, it also shows how community development can be applied in a variety of policy areas. Accessibly written, this guide will remain essential reading for community organizers and students of community development.

Social and Community Development is an essential introduction to the subject for students, potential practitioners, and activists interested in community action and emancipatory social change. It reflects on the underlying principles of development: what development is, why it is promoted and the implications for practice, indicating potential strategies and goals.

Community Development in an Uncertain World is an essential resource for students and professionals in the human services.

An ideal introduction to community planning for students, planners, local officials, community leaders, and citizens. Two experienced educators offer a general introduction to planning, including the elements of the comprehensive plan, and the tools of plan implementation. Each chapter includes a continuing case study of Rivertown, a fictitious community used for planning exercises. Practical examples and case studies from across the United States supplement the text.