Source: University of California, Davis
Program: Department of Human & Community Development
Course: CRD/GEO 240: Community Development Theory
Instructor: Dr. Clare Cannon
Description
Community development supports community participation in and influence of important public and private functions including planning, governance, economic development, health and social services provision, responses to poverty, effective transportation, housing for all groups, and improved education and human resources. Changes in community practices over the last few decades have given increasing importance to region-wide collaboration, complex partnerships, and new forms of public/private organization. Similarly, the projects that community organizations are involved in are vastly more complex than those of even a few years ago, requiring networks that encompass technical, financial, legal, and social services expertise.
Effective community development practice requires critical reflection on the social, political, economic, environmental, and historical processes and structures that shape the distribution of opportunities, resources, and risks in and across communities. This critical analysis can be facilitated by applying generalizable understandings of these social phenomena, a.k.a. theory.