Community
development is often broadly defined as the bettering of a community's
social, political and economic assets. Community—and
economic—development is also a key government function, especially at
the local level. Public managers working in this area face unique
administrative challenges. Public administration scholarship and
practice can help managers solve these challenges and better their
communities. To facilitate discussion within public administration, a
number of members are looking to form a Community and Economic
Development Section within ASPA.
Before these efforts begin, ASPA members are invited to
participate in an online study
examining how community development is both practiced and taught in the
public affairs field, while also gauging interest in developing this
dedicated Section. A better understanding of how practitioners and
scholars define, and therefore teach and practice, community development
will improve knowledge about this subject in the public sector,
allowing for improved community development policy and practice in the
future.