Sustainable Community Planning and Development

Abstract

This article examines planning and implementation for sustainable development at the community level, or “sustainable community development” (SCD). A sustainable community is continually adjusting to meet the social and economic needs of its residents while preserving the environment's ability to support it. For SCD, it is useful to think of community in terms of capital, i.e., local assets and resources that can produce benefits through investment. Achieving community sustainability requires mobilizing citizens and their governments to strengthen all forms of community capital, as participatory planning is critical to the sustainable development process—from visioning to results evaluation.