Humans are, at their core, social beings. They desire interaction with others like them. As a result, they tend to gather in groups called communities. However, a good community does not simply pop into existence. Community development is required to create a healthy, sustainable community. There are even those like Roger O’Steen Jacksonville and the PARC group, founded by Founder Roger O’Steen Jacksonville who specialize in community development. What exactly is community development though? Here is a quick breakdown to help you understand community development.

What Exactly Is Community Development?

Community development has been defined by the United Nations as “a process where the conditions of social and economic progress are created through participation in the community and reliance on community initiatives.” Basically, what this involves is many members of the community gathering together and agreeing to do something good for the entire community as a whole. They collectively agree to allocate funds towards a specific project to benefit the whole community, such as investing in a public library or a bicycle path in a parkway, and then they cooperate to take the project from plan to reality. Community development may also include efforts to educate community members or help them gain useful skills. Community development includes any projects are practices adopted by the community as a whole to help the whole community.

Is Community Development Necessary?

Community development is integral to the success of a community. Communities that never undergo community development may eventually fade out and die. Furthermore, community development is a vehicle to improving the standard of living for a community’s residents. It leads to better lives, lower crime rates and better sustainability of the community.

Community development is an important factor in whether a new community will make it or not. It should never be neglected, especially when a community is in its infancy and just beginning to find its place in the world.