In an attempt to describe "the good community," Warren examines community development on the bases of primary group relationships, autonomy, viability, power distribution, participation, degree of commitment, degree of heterogeneity, extent of neighborhood control, and the extent of conflict. (NL)

The centrality of the definition of need as the major determinant of both substance and strategy in the conduct of needs assessment in a community is highlighted. A definition of need is proposed as a working definition for needs assessment undertakings, and consequently as a foundation for social practice. (Author)

The example of Chicago's Humboldt Park, where there is reluctance to use political action in response to gentrification, shows the limitations of communitarian conceptions of community building, which emphasize self-help and consensus building but fail to acknowledge the need for political articulation of rights-based demands. (SK)

Although much of the community development work undertaken by women in Northern Ireland could be described as community relations, women's reluctance to use that label has led to neglect of their significant contributions. A more inclusive definition of community relations is needed. (SK)

Three years' observation of a community development project on a council housing estate in England, focusing on housing issues, produced a qualitative assessment of the process of the project at the management and community level. (JOW)

This paper describes a comprehensive, constituent-based evaluation approach that can yield useful information for policymakers, program planners, and administrators. The four stages are specification of constituent network; exploration of significant incentives; design of an incentive system; and assessment of the system. (JOW)

Discusses community economic development (CED) and its importance as an approach to fighting poverty, an important dimension of any discussion of sustainable development. Offers the best examples of CED from the Canadian experience. (JOW)

Discusses the increased interest in community development and the support for community-development training. Describes community-development training aimed at practitioners in the professional sector and at public servants in the bureaucratic sector. (JOW)

The Early Warning Business Development System identifies companies at risk of closing or moving and provides assistance by developing a coalition of community, labor, government, and business leaders; gathering information on area businesses; developing a plan of action; and building community vision and capacity. (SK)

The Bristol (England) Festival against Racism illustrates the value of personal contacts and informal networking in developing community coalitions. The project resulted in a 12-step model for conflict resolution. (SK)

O'Gorman provides "Five Points for Reflection" on nongovernmental and community organizations in Brazil. Speyer and Tedrus discuss "Community Libraries: An Experience in Community Development in the Periphery of Sao Paulo." (SK)

Since the 1980s, community development in Australia has become professionalized and operates in a milieu of deregulation and privatization. Development workers struggle with questions of integrity and compromise and the contradictory pulls of modernism and postmodernism. (SK)

Poverty in Africa is related to numerous factors: history of slavery, colonial and neocolonial rule, political and economic dependence, foreign debt, government corruption, high illiteracy, gender insensitivity, civil wars that create refugees, and unemployment. Solutions must take into account the political, economic, and social factors that…

This taxonomy of effective community development approaches in service delivery, capacity building, advocacy, and social mobilization identifies the degree to which they can empower people. (SK)