Community development planning consists of a public participatory and usually interactive form of town or neighborhood planning and design in which diverse community members (often termed “stakeholders”) contribute toward the formulation of the goals, objectives, planning, fund/resource identification, and direction, planned project implementations and re-evaluation of documented local planning policy. It is a logical “bottom-up” evolution of (formerly “top-down”) regional, city, and urban planning in an era of plateaued or diminishing public resources, increasing local burdens and responsibilities, and public activism. It often promotes public/private partnerships as a means to harness physical development activities in support of community-defined goals [The Green Book, 1979]. At a minimum, it seeks community consensus for proposed allocations of scarce resources among competing demands. In more vigorous application, community members access a full gamut of planning tools, shaping and being shaped by a shared understanding of a complex community information base, directly informing and guiding local plan content, influencing resulting development budgets, projects, and thus future infrastructure and land uses, as well as helping coordinate the work of overlapping jurisdictions, levels of government, internal and adjacent communities and various providers, such as business associations, utilities, and schools.

As a process, planning strives for an open, orderly approach to determine community needs, set goals and priorities, and develop a guide for local decision-making. Planning is also place-based, meaning that it focuses on the unique qualities of a place and attempts to include people from all walks of life in determining the future social, economic, and physical development of the community

Course Overview

This course provides an overview of the processes of community planning, and the theories in community development, discusses the methods of assessing community needs and assets, stakeholders engagement and collaboration, community organizations, data analysis, evaluating community development initiatives, and addressing challenges in community development.