Principles of community and economic development

Instructions

There are 3 questions
1. Please discuss the concept of community of place (in the sense that Robinson and Green use it) and identify the critical elements that make up a community and those elements not required for community.
2. Are the concepts of community of interest and community of identity relevant in thinking about community of place? If so, in what ways are they relevant?
3. The Robinson and Leigh texts both suggest that traditional economic approaches to development have been too narrow and that broader conceptions are needed. Identify the term that each text uses for the narrow concept of development. Identify the term that each text uses for the broader concept of development.

The questions can be answered through the following chapters of each textbook
Chaps 1 Robinson: Developing Communities
Chap 2 Robinson: A Historical View of Community Development
Chap 3 Robinson: Comm Development and Natural Landscapes
Chap 4 Robinson: The Technical Assistance Approach
Chap 5 Robinson: The Self-Help Approach to Community Development
Chap 6 Robinson: The Interactional Approach
Chap 7 Robinson: The Role of Conflict

Chap 1 Leigh: The Enduring Argument for Local Eco Dev Planning
Chap 2 Leigh: The Influence of National and State Policies
Chap 3 Leigh: Concepts and Theory of Local Eco Development
Chap 4 Leigh The Local Economic Development Profession and Professionals
Chap 5 Leigh: Planning Local Eco Development (what do you want it to be)

Your understanding of the concept of community is central to this study and lays the foundation, in particular, for the topics in this first unit. There are a couple of parts to this discussion:

1. Please discuss the concept of community of place (in the sense that Robinson and Green use it) and identify the critical elements that make up a community and those elements not required for community.
2. Are the concepts of community of interest and community of identity relevant in thinking about community of place? If so, in what ways are they relevant?
3. The Robinson and Leigh texts both suggest that traditional economic approaches to development have been too narrow and that broader conceptions are needed. Identify the term that each text uses for the narrow concept of development. Identify the term that each text uses for the broader concept of development.

Here is a good resource for this discussion:
These websites/U-Tube videos show a presentation (there are several parts) that John Benington of the Community Development Foundation made at a House of Commons event in the UK. He discusses the importance of identifying community, some of the problems that community development faces and he makes recommendations for the government, nonprofit organizations, for profit organizations and civil society. Benington is the author of a book called Public Value about the value that community development initiatives add to society. This, of course, is a critical question for government and nonprofit organizations but also for for-profit organizations. Watching this will take a half hour or so but it is worthwhile.
What Will Communities Need to Deliver the Big Society? Pt. 2
What Will Communities Need to Deliver the Big Society? Pt. 3
What Will Communities Need to Deliver the Big Society? Pt. 4

Textbooks
Introduction to Community Development by Robinson and Green, Publisher: Sage

Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice by Leigh and Blakely, Publisher: Sage

Both textbooks can be found on VitalSource.com