The Community Development Process

1 The CommunityDevelopment ProcessThe Community Development Process can be difficult, time-consuming,and costly. Community residents often are more concerned with dailytasks than thinking about, and coming up with, a vision of their Community sfuture. Residents want their children to go to good schools, they want decentjobs, and they want a safe, clean environment in which to live. Without avision, however, communities have a limited ability to make decisions aboutthese issues. It is analogous to driving across the country without a should determine a Community s future other than Community resi-dents?

2 A consultant hired by the local government to develop a plan, a stateor federal agency making decisions about highway bypasses or wetlandspreservation, or a private developer constructing a shopping mall or a resi-dential subdivision could all make a large impact on a Community s of a Community need to participate in and actively envision thefuture of their Community ; otherwise, other groups and individuals will deter-mine their future for Community Development Process can be as important as its Process we present in this chapter follows the model in Figure Themodel shows a linear Process that begins with Community organizing andmoves on to visioning, planning, and finally implementation and continues to be some debate over the importance of Process versusoutcomes in Community Development .

3 Some people argue that the goal ofcommunity Development is to increase public participation and that it doesnot matter if their efforts are successful or not. Others contend that the ulti-mate goal is to improve the quality of life in the Community , with public par-ticipation being simply a means to an end. Our position is closer to the latterview. We focus in this chapter on the Process of Community Development ,with the ultimate goal of enhancing Community assets. It is difficult tomaintain interest and commitment to Community Development processes ifparticipants cannot point to successes.

4 In the long run, both Process and out-comes are essential pieces of Community this chapter, we focus on three areas: Community organizing, communityvisioning and planning, and evaluation and monitoring. In the first 4/19/2007 8:35 PM Page 41of this chapter, we focus on public participation. We are especially interestedin identifying its various forms and techniques for encouraging Participation _____More than 100 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville (1835/1945) remarked onthe vibrant civil society in the United States, with its remarkable number andmix of voluntary organizations and associations the types of organizationsthat are likely to rely on public action.

5 Although the number and mix haveshifted since he made his observations, voluntary organizations and associa-tions are still an important part of the fabric of civil society. Although manylament that public participation has declined in the United States, there hasbeen an enormous increase in the number of Community -based organizations(CBOs) involved in Development over the past two most cases, Community Development practitioners grapple with theissue of participation. How is a Community motivated to affect change?

6 Howdoes a Community maintain momentum? Who in the Community should getinvolved? To begin the discussion, we address some conceptual issues sur-rounding public BUILDING AND Community DEVELOPMENTE ducationand PublicParticipationCommunityOrganizingIm plementationand EvaluationVisioningPlanningCreate benchmarksand indicatorDo projectsNew organization?A vision statementCreate an action plan at the simplestto a comprehensive plan at the most ambitiousNew policiesNew organizationsFigure Community Development 4/19/2007 8:35 PM Page 42 There are at least four types of public participation: public action, publicinvolvement, electoral participation, and obligatory participation (Langston,1978).

7 By examining these differences, we can better understand the com-munity Development Process and its relationship to and use by CBOs andlocal governments. From this comparison, public action fits closest to thecommunity Development Process model. In this type of public participation,the activities are initiated and controlled by citizens, with the intent of influ-encing government officials and others. Public involvement and obligatoryparticipation, on the other hand, are initiated and controlled by governmentofficials.

8 Yet this type of public participation is growing, can have a mean-ingful impact on the quality of life, and may ultimately lead to a Community -initiated the Community Development Process model (Figure ), the role ofpublic participation may start with public action and shift to public involve-ment, depending on the organizational context and ownership of theprocess. Generally, public action is the category of public participation onwhich CBOs Arnstein s (1969) ladder of public participation is a usefulframework for understanding the role of CBOs in public participation (seeFigure ).

9 This ladder has eight rungs divided into three sections thatillustrate degrees of participation and public power. Arnstein argued thatpower and control over decisions are necessary ingredients to real publicparticipation. The lower two rungs are nonparticipatory participation andare called manipulation and therapy. Examples include public or neighbor-hood advisory committees or boards that have no authority or power in con-trolling projects or programs but simply represent a way to vent Community Development Process43 Citizen controlDelegated powerPartnershipDegrees of Citizen PowerNonparticipatoryPlacationConsultati onInformingDegrees of TokenismTherapyManipulationFigure of Public ParticipationSOURCE: From A Ladder of Citizen Participation, by S.

10 R. Arnstein, 1969. Reprinted withpermission from the Journal of the American Planning Association, copyright July 1969 by theAmerican Planning 4/19/2007 8:35 PM Page 43 The next three rungs illustrate degrees of tokenism : informing, consul-tation, and placation. Methods include simple communication tools, such asposters, and more sophisticated tools, such as surveys, meetings, public hear-ings, and placement of citizens on powerful boards. The final three rungs represent degrees of citizen power : partnership,delegated power, and citizen control.