Community Development Literature Research Articles

Migration of young adults in micropolitan counties

ABSTRACT Nonmetropolitan U.S. counties have historically lagged metropolitan areas in population and employment growth. Population projections indicate that they will face a shrinking workforce in the future, although, immigration and domestic migration by young adults could help offset this trend. The number of young adults (ages 25 to 44) is projected to increase in the next several decades and thus will be a growing proportion of the workforce. However, whether they will be attracted to rural areas such as micropolitan counties and how these counties can attract them has not received much attention in the community development literature. This article uses OLS regression to examine the determinants of the net migration rate for the 25–44 age group in micropolitan counties between 2000 and 2010, adjusting for geographic, economic, and county-level demographic factors.. The discussion then examines approaches that micropolitan areas can use to attract this age cohort.

Wellbeing-responsive community: a growth target for intentional mental health promotion.

With mental illness remaining a significant burden of disease, there is an ongoing need for community-based health promotion, prevention, and responses (or "mental health promotion activities"). The health promotion, community development, and positive psychology literature identifies significant heterogeneity in the design and delivery of these activities. This variability spans: (1) individual vs. group outcomes, (2) psychological vs. sociological determinants of change, (3) promoting wellbeing vs. reducing mental health symptoms, and (4) the degree activities are contextualized vs. standardized in design and delivery. Mental health promotion activities do not easily accomplish this level of complexity within design and implementation. This has led to the emergence of the complexity-informed health promotion literature and the need for innovative tools, methods, and theories to drive this endeavor. This article directly responds to this call. It introduces "wellbeing-responsive community": a vision and outcome hierarchy (or growth target) for intentionally delivered mental health promotion. The construct enables the design and implementation of interventions that intentionally respond to complexity and contextualization through the drivers of co-creation, intentionality, and local empowerment. It represents a community (support team, programme, agency, network, school, or region) that has the shared language, knowledge, methods, and skills to work together in shared intent. In other words, to integrate best-practice science with their local knowledge systems and existing strengths, and intentionally co-create and deliver contextualized wellbeing solutions at both the individual and community levels that span the "system" (e.g., whole-of-community) to the "moment" (e.g., intentional support and care). Co-creation, as applied through a transdisciplinary lens, is emerging as an evidence-based method to respond to complexity. This article describes the rationale and evidence underpinning the conceptualization of a wellbeing-responsive community through the integration of three key disciplines: (1) positive psychology, (2) ecological or systems approaches, and (3) intentional practice (implementation science). A definitional, contextual, and applied overview of the wellbeing-responsive community is provided, including a hierarchy of outcomes and associated definitions. Its purported application across education, mental health, community service, and organizational settings is discussed, including its potential role in making complexity-informed health promotion practical for all knowledge users.

‘Neighborhood residents cannot afford homeownership’: the limitations of community development on Latino enclaves

Abstract The challenges of low-income neighborhoods and the different approaches to community economic development continue to dominate urban revitalization and poverty discussions. The ongoing, contested debate remains whether the nature of top-down business-oriented community economic development models serve the broader interests of the community residents or the narrow interests of its proponents and benefactors. This case study analyzes the impact of urban revitalization projects in Frog Hollow, an impoverished, but vibrant Latino enclave in Hartford, CT, and examines the limitations of top-down community economic revitalization and development strategies. The study also contributes to the community development literature by focusing on the Latino communities in the United States. This neighborhood underwent a highly publicized series of revitalization projects during the decade of the 2000s, which included business owners, community organizations, and local government in its development and implementation phases. This study focuses on three areas: identifying the history, goals, strategies, and tactics behind the community economic development model used in this urban revitalization project; examining the impact of the revitalization project on the socioeconomic conditions of the neighborhood and its residents; and determining how being an impoverished Puerto Rican/Latino enclave impacted the design, process, and implementation of the community development project.

Relationship, leadership, action: Evaluating the framework of a sustainable campus-community partnership

ABSTRACT Campus-community partnerships are a beneficial service learning staple for students, communities, and nonprofit partners. Although many such partnerships are established, it is less likely that the connection weathers student turnover, leadership changes, and misalignments in process or purpose. The Nonprofit Excellence and Transformation (NExT) Program at the Siena College Center for Academic Community Engagement pairs interdisciplinary teams with local nonprofit partners to work on organization-specific projects. The Wildwood Programs project, conducted by a NExT team from 2019–2021, is an ideal template for a long-term, student-led partnership. Themes from community development literature were identified and compared to student experiences to establish reasons for the partnership’s success and sustainability. Best practices found through this study aligned with the three main pillars of the NExT Program: Relationship, Leadership, and Action. This categorical framework can be adapted by scholars, students, and practitioners to improve longevity and quality of future campus-community partnerships in higher education.

On the ground, but not in the field? The (mis)use and portrayal of ethnography in community development literature

ABSTRACT Ethnography is valuable, but the expressions of ethnography in the community development literature are inadequate. This methodological insufficiency showcases a failure by community development professionals to fully understand the communities they serve and jeopardizes the reputation of the community development field. We call for the development of a standard for the community development field that substantiates ethnographic methodology and production in research and practice. Ethnography requires empirical fieldwork consisting of multiple, well-integrated methods. Moreover, ethnographers should strive for polyvocal field-based study with community members who are both the subjects and co-producers of the resultant written ethnography. We reach and support our findings with an exhaustive review of 112 articles in leading community development journals that claim to utilize ethnographic study. Additionally, we provide a history of ethnography in community development, articulate ethnography in process and application, and suggest how to improve the reporting and practice of ethnography.

Converging humanitarian technology and social work in a public health crisis: a social innovation response to COVID-19 in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Public health crises disproportionately affect vulnerable population groups. Interventions aimed at curtailing the spread of diseases or improving the overall health of the population must aim to reduce existing inequalities rather than exacerbate them. Drawing on social innovation and asset-based community development literature, this article describes the design principles of a project utilising humanitarian technology for disinfectant and sanitation purposes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides insights into the merits of cross-sector collaboration, particularly between social work and engineering, in effectively addressing the health and sanitation needs of low-income families living in subdivided units in Hong Kong. The project underscores the potential of social innovation in addressing the needs of the vulnerable communities in public health crises.

Mechanism of value capture on gated community housing by developers in Jakarta Metropolitan Area

We reviewed the state of the art on gated community development, property valuation, and value capture literature to discuss how gated housing serves as a mechanism for land value capture by developers. Land value capture, instead of measures such as urban fears and segregation, justifies developers’ action to build impenetrable walls around their residential development projects. Previous works on housing markets in JMR suggests that housing products tend to be overpriced. We found early indications that enclosing physical boundaries on housing projects were positively correlated to residential price growth in Jakarta Metropolitan Regional (JMR). We used a study case embedded design for this initial research with mixed analysis data method. Our results show and argue that the real estate developers’ motive to install walls and gates in their residential projects is to enhance the existing land value. The ratio of land value on housing inside the gated area is 1,5 up to 7 times more higher than the surrounding area outside the gate. Our study helps to develop an understanding of the motive behind the gating trends in housing development projects. All of the information is substantially useful to help public sector working on managed residential land sustainably.

Theorizing social media and activism: where is community development?

AbstractThere is a growing public and academic debate on the societal impacts of the internet and, in particular, social media. For its proponents, social media is a force for change, which can challenge entrenched hierarchies, redistribute power, democratize information, support mass mobilization and contribute to the building of global movements. Increasingly such positivist arguments are being questioned. Critics argue that it has become a sinister force, facilitating the spread of ‘fake news’, providing an instrument for citizen surveillance and re-enforcing neoliberal hegemony. The community development literature has barely engaged in those debates around social media that appear urgent in other disciplines. Social media has been seen as a value-free tool for broadcasting and dissemination, and neither evaluated as a force for change nor examined as an instrument of neoliberal intents. Although there is a community development literature on neoliberalism and globalization, it often accepts these, rather than critiques them, as the contexts within which community development operates. Challenging established power imbalances and enhancing citizen participation in democratic processes are purposes central to community development values. Analysis of wider literature raises questions with regard to the values embedded in the technologies from which enhanced levels of participation and engagement are expected to flow. It also raises questions about who benefits most from the affordances of these technologies. This article, drawing on an extensive literature review, presents the case for community development values to be asserted in these debates.

MENEMUKAN KEMBALI PEMBARUAN PERKOTAAN BERBASIS PENGEMBANGAN MASYARAKAT: STUDI PENANGANAN PEMUKIMAN KUMUH DI PERKOTAAN INDONESIA

The urban renewal concept is one of the city development policies approaches. It promotes profit optimization in urban areas. However, this is done by eroding existing slums and ending with injustice for the community. For this reason, city development policies need to direct urban renewal implementation based on community development. The question arises whether urban renewal needs to be applied for urban areas in Indonesia, whether urban renewal brings certain benefits in achieving a more humane society development and its limits. This article aims to provide a theoretical understanding of the considerations and implications for its application through illustrative case studies from several major cities in Indonesia. This study evaluates urban renewal ideas from a community development viewpoint, through descriptive, evaluative analysis and literature. Study results show that urban renewal is necessary for cities in Indonesia in terms of policies that make the city center become a more competitive business area and generate maximum urban profits through tax revenues. On the other hand, this is done to beautify the city's face, which will automatically improve community development in cities and suburbs. Local wisdom in the context of a city's development policy choice base is a limitation for its implementation optimality.

A Method for Making the Just City: Housing, Gentrification, and Health

ABSTRACTA gentrification wave is sweeping across metropolitan America, yet we know very little about the health consequences of this current neighborhood redevelopment trend across different community contexts. This article describes an interdisciplinary, comparative, community-based participatory action (CBPA) research project investigating how housing, community change, and health are connected. We first discuss the linkages among America’s affordable housing crisis, increased rates of gentrification, and health concerns for low-income people in revitalizing neighborhoods. We then lay out our initial hypotheses of how early- and late-stage gentrification processes might affect the health of low-income residents. This is followed by an explanation of how our CBPA approach influenced and altered our gentrification-related research questions and methods. This article contributes to the housing and community development literature by explaining an innovative theoretical and methodological framework for understanding the complex relationships among housing, neighborhood change, and health.

Mining governance, corporate social responsibility and community development in Ghana

This paper examined mining governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community development in Ghana. Leaning on the resource curse thesis, CSRs and community development literature, the study utilised in-depth interviews of selected mining companies, expert opinions and content analysis to draw on the various conclusions. It was found that due to the negative impact of mining on the 'local economy', mining companies have embarked on 'enhanced' CSR activities to keep mining communities at pace with development. These activities are isolated in most cases from the government development activities in the mining areas. The nature of CSR activities were of the same across mining companies, except in size and magnitude. Efforts by central and local governments to restructure mining governance in terms of revenue sharing and to adopt a comprehensive partnership arrangements with the mining companies to jointly initiate well focused asset-based development agenda for the mining communities is highly recommended.

Mining governance, corporate social responsibility and community development in Ghana

This paper examined mining governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community development in Ghana. Leaning on the resource curse thesis, CSRs and community development literature, the study utilised in-depth interviews of selected mining companies, expert opinions and content analysis to draw on the various conclusions. It was found that due to the negative impact of mining on the 'local economy', mining companies have embarked on 'enhanced' CSR activities to keep mining communities at pace with development. These activities are isolated in most cases from the government development activities in the mining areas. The nature of CSR activities were of the same across mining companies, except in size and magnitude. Efforts by central and local governments to restructure mining governance in terms of revenue sharing and to adopt a comprehensive partnership arrangements with the mining companies to jointly initiate well focused asset-based development agenda for the mining communities is highly recommended.

Living on Borrowed Time: Plutocrats as Parasites

After the crash of 2007–2008, one of the most pressing questions of our time is why neoliberalism, the cause of so much instability, is more not less entrenched and, as a supplementary to this inquiry, to ask what alternatives exist? Dorling (2014) and Sayer (2015) offer a counter narrative to market triumphalism by focusing on the vulnerable points of that hegemony: inequality. How is it that at a time when so much wealth has been created, that poverty has increased? Indeed this tension resonates across the community development literature. Margaret Ledwith has stated that ‘(w)ithout an understanding of hegemony it would be puzzling to contemplate how, in a democracy, it is possible to create a society in which it has been justifiable to increase poverty at the same time as wealth’ (1997, p. 31). Of the two accounts, Sayer's is the weightier, with a more demanding reprise of economics whereas Dorling skirts a number of social issues with his trademark maps and charts illuminating the distortions in distribution of public goods. Both are lively, angry reads and both are very clear about their commitments to a fairer world. Whilst there are many writers who have critiqued contemporary capitalism from across the political spectrum (Blond, 2010; Mount, 2012) Dorling and Sayer, whilst not necessarily breaking new ground, marshal their arguments with vim and vigour. Given the subject matter it is hardly surprising that they mirror each other's conceits, notably in arguing that we cannot afford the rich; a not so open question asked by Dorling in his first chapter (can we afford the superrich?) and the title of Sayer's book (why we cannot afford the rich).

Healthcare Use in the Heartland: How Health Care Selection Varies Between Rural, Retirement‐Age Migrants and Long‐Term Residents

AbstractOne increasingly important problem affecting rural health care selection is the tendency of older residents to bypass local health care providers. This research investigates how the effects of community characteristics and attachment on health care bypass behavior vary between rural retirement‐age migrants and retirement‐age long‐term residents. Non‐health‐related behaviors, such as purchasing goods and services outside one's community during a health care trip, that is, “outshopping,” could influence bypass if individuals combine trips for their medical care with other consumer needs. Basing our work on the outshopping theory, we argue that bypass behavior is one facet of consumer consumption patterns for both rural retirement‐age migrants and long‐term residents. In addition, dissatisfaction with local health care and services like shopping can “push” rural residents to bypass local health care and travel greater distances for primary health care. We further contend that strong community attachment has an opposite “pull” effect that can help to negate the push of outshopping and reduce the likelihood of bypass. Our results reveal retirement‐age migrants are significantly more likely to bypass local primary health care providers than retirement‐age long‐term residents. Furthermore, our analysis bridges the rural health care and retirement community development literature to suggest that outshopping theory can now be applied to rural primary health care bypass behavior.

Invisible struggles: the representation of ethnic entrepreneurship in US newspapers

How entrepreneurship is portrayed in media can play an important role for how attractive it is perceived as a career and/or investment option. Communities need people of all ethnicities to be interested in starting businesses because economic development is tied so closely to community development. To date, little to no community development literature has been published about how newspapers frame ethnic minority entrepreneurs and how that might affect the community. This article examined such framing and its implications. This article presents a textual analysis of how ethnic minority entrepreneurship is represented in US newspapers included in the LexisNexis Academic Database from 2003 to 2008. Overall, ethnic minority entrepreneurship, including the struggles the entrepreneurs face, is almost invisible in the newspapers, despite its importance for the economy. From the articles that were published in this field, important patterns were identified. The article concludes with suggestions about how community development officials can assist ethnic minority entrepreneurs.

Community Entrepreneurship in Deprived Neighbourhoods: Comparing UK Community Enterprises with US Community Development Corporations

Through a review of the recent American community development literature, this paper tests the assertion that British community enterprises (CEs) are fundamentally similar to American community development corporations (CDCs), and therefore, that CEs can learn from CDCs. In the context of the current austerity regimes, CEs and community entrepreneurship are increasingly considered as a means to continue small-scale urban regeneration, not only in the UK but also in several other European countries. While the CDC sector has achieved a relatively successful record in affordable housing production in distressed areas, CDCs are fundamentally limited in terms of reversing the processes of community decline. Our comparison of CDCs and CEs reveals similarities, but also differences with regard to organizational characteristics, co-operation on multiple scales, comprehensiveness, targeting and community participation. Apart from outlining lessons that CEs can learn from CDS, we provide recommendations for further research that should cover the lack of empirical evidence in this field.

Communities and commons: the role of community development support in sustaining the commons

The commons literature tends to treat community development as one of the independent variables that can explain variation in commons governance outcomes. The community development literature treats community development as its primary dependent variable, and studies how it can be achieved. We feel that the obvious complementarity between both traditions has up till now not been taken full advantage of. The purpose of this paper is to begin defining a common ground where both literatures can work together. We identify a big potential and an urgent need for complementary research on questions related with community development efforts that target collective action potential and self-governance capacity of commoners.

Clermont Preferred Future: Stakeholder Reflections on a Community Foresight and Planning Initiative

This paper demonstrates the potential of the mining industry to contribute to social development (community building, resilience and wellbeing) and to economic transitioning post-mining. A number of factors may facilitate the realisation of this potential, in particular community engagement activities that build community resilience and capacity to adapt to changing environments. This paper reviews a community foresight initiative, named Clermont Preferred Future (CPF), which is associated with a coal mine development in the town of Clermont in Queensland, Australia. The purpose of CPF, which was adopted in 2008 and is intended to continue to 2020, is to facilitate a transition to a prosperous and sustainable future by leveraging opportunities from coal mining while reducing dependence on the industry. CPF has been cited as a successful model of engagement and community development, and was highly commended in the Community Economic Development category at the 2011 Australian National Awards for Economic Development Excellence. This review draws on the experiences of stakeholders involved in CPF, and on foresight, community engagement, and community development literature. It identifies what has worked well, what has fallen short of the project’s rhetorical aspirations, and how processes and outcomes might be improved. It also trials artwork as an engagement tool. The findings are valuable for Clermont specifically, but also for the mining industry and mining communities more broadly, as well as for other industries in the context of community engagement and strategic planning.

Improving well-being through community health improvement: a service evaluation

This paper describes the establishment of a health improvement service delivered in a socio-economically deprived region of the UK. Recent service reorganisation has provided the opportunity to consider new outcome measures. Results from a service evaluation conducted during integration into local council services are presented. Individuals living in socially excluded communities may require support to feel involved in their local community and to develop supportive networks. In turn, this support could be protective to their health and well-being. This paper will explore how community development activities delivered by Salford Health Improvement Service (SHIS) can support measurable improvements in well-being. Data are drawn from a validated structured questionnaire that measured well-being before and after involvement in a range of community-based interventions based upon established community development principles. The questionnaire was completed by 404 individuals. The paper is UK focused and as such is situated within the context of predominantly UK-based community development literature. The findings indicate that the community development interventions delivered by SHIS do produce positive outcomes in terms of increasing participants' level of well-being. Self-reported well-being improved in 75% of participants. Community development approaches may be an effective approach in supporting people to become engaged in activities that facilitate healthy lifestyles.

The introduction and development of the community-flow measurement instrument

This paper provides readers with an understanding of what families desire from community outreach efforts. It does so by specifically asking citizens to express what they want from their community in order to improve its overall performance. Throughout this paper, the concept of increasing the overall performance of the community is examined by introducing a new term into the housing and community development literature – “community-flow” – a term that this study uses to measure the overall performance or success of the community, where the community comprises the neighborhood, schools, and elements of public service. Results of this study posit an explanation that can account for about 30% of what constitutes effective overall community performance. These initial findings provide the foundation for further refinement and subsequent testing of the community-flow measurement instrument in order to explain the remaining 70% of what constitutes effective overall community performance.