What is Community Development?
Community development has a myriad of definitions, for the purpose of this paper we provide the following definitions each with a slightly different focus:
- Community development is the process in which the efforts of the people themselves are united with those organisations and of government authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of their communities, small town or village with a view toward making it a more healthy, prosperous and gratifying place to live.
- Community development is more than just economic development (although economic development is included). Community development is the process or effort of building communities on a local level with emphasis on building the economy, forging and strengthening social ties, and developing the non-profit sector.
- Community development is both a process embarked on, and an outcome, of many and various processes and strategies that are purposefully initiated - and sometimes occur more naturally, spontaneously or organically - towards enhancing the experience of people living in communities.
There is a need to take a holistic approach to development to take into account Social, Cultural and Spiritual aspects of development as well as Economic and Physical.
- Community development is a process involving the conception, planning, and implementation of projects or activities which create improvements in (or reduce the extent of declines in) the living standards of people in a particular community.
Community development is ongoing and is a crucial factor in supporting and developing sustainable outcomes for a Community. In the event that a Community has been or is in crisis or is having a significant Government intervention then concurrent and ongoing post intervention Community development is mission critical to sustainable success.