Community Development

Basic Aspects of the Issue

Community Development is one of the three pillars in the Rural Community Development process. The other two pillars are Economic development which addresses the general economic context within which businesses can survive and thrive, and Business Development which is the process of actually assisting businesses to either begin or continue in their growth process in an area.

The process of community development is the process of bringing the people component of the community into harmony with the other aspects of community life in such a way that a balanced approach to life can be achieved and maintained.

Community development speaks of not only the people dimension of life after development has occurred, but also the people dimension leading up to such a state. It addresses the inter-personal and group dynamics which are intertwined with the other aspects of development, because after all, community is by definition people. If the economy does not serve the needs of its people, then major changes need to be made so that it does.

With major changes taking place on the global front, such as an exploding overall global population, and reductions in time and space for the global community, turning it into one big "village", all people in the world are facing major changes to community life. One of the biggest changes for everybody's thinking is having to take a larger world community into consideration in our developmental efforts. The events of Sept.11, 2001 have brought home to us all that we can no longer carry on our own "community development" without factoring in the needs , wants, and presence of the rest of the world community.

Other aspects of community development can be found on the Community Development section of this web site.

Rural Development Institute Research Studies

Other Resources