Community Development: Find Books & eBooks

This book is about building and maintaining involved, sustainable, and inclusive communities from the ground up during a period of unprecedented growth and global change. It explains the concepts and principles of community and sustainability and provides students with a framework of sustainable community planning to put into practice. It is also designed to help communities everywhere identify and reconnect the true essence of their ecological setting with the objective of raising their quality of life by increasing social, environmental, and economic sustainability. Features: Provides up-to-date frameworks for sustainable community planning processes and case studies on community planning Explains tools for sustainable planning in accessible (non-specialist) language Illustrates a roadmap to an inclusive, collaborative future Explains aspects of sustainable community planning to maximize ecological ecosystem services and climate co-benefits simultaneously Includes discussion questions and suggestions following each chapter Intended for undergraduate and graduate students taking leadership and community courses with an emphasis on sustainable practices and ethics, as well as for citizens and professionals involved in community projects related to sustainability, the authors provide a forward-thinking approach, showing readers that they are capable of making a positive impact on the future of community development through sustainable approaches and ethical leadership practices.

The go-to guide for sustainable community development, from the neighborhood to the regional level Fully revised and updated, Toward Sustainable Communities is the definitive guide to the why, the what, and most importantly, the how of creating resilient, healthy, equitable, and prosperous places. This fifth edition introduces the innovative Community Capital Compass as a powerful tool for maximizing the environmental, economic, and social benefits of complex community and regional decisions, and has been completely revamped to serve readers in the US, Canada, and abroad. Those seeking a comprehensive approach to sustainable community planning and development from the neighborhood to the regional level will benefit from: An expanded Community Capital framework that organizes community resources into eight interrelated forms of capital The Community Capital Compass process for navigating complex situations involving everything from municipal services and land-use planning to housing and climate change Elaboration of collaborative governance, community mobilization, public engagement, capacity building, infrastructure, policymaking, and promising practices A companion website featuring case studies, profiles, online resources, interactive tools, videos, and more. Packed with concrete, proven strategies, this "living book" is the go-to guide for sustainable community development. Toward Sustainable Communities is essential reading for current and aspiring professionals, practitioners, policymakers, educators, purpose-driven organizations, engaged citizens, and anyone concerned about their communities and a sustainable future.

Why Place Matters reassesses what is known and traditionally understood about the relationship older adults have with place over time and in later life. Building from notions that affirm there is no single "right" place to age or grow older, Joyce Weil fixes her analytical focus on older adults' agency in assessing place, the ways a person's fit in a place evolves over time, and the complexity and nuance of how older adults derive and also attach meanings to place. Even in the presence of a rich literature and ongoing body of research on older adults and their relationship to place, this book argues for more attention to be paid to the ways in which the interaction of person and place is fluid and dependent on personal and individual circumstances as well as societal and structural ones. Drawing upon theoretical explanations and quantitative models, including the author's own integrated measure, and a range of lived experiences and personal accounts of place, this book unpacks and broadens the meanings ascribed to place in later life. Readers across the fields of gerontology, sociology, geography, planning, and health and social care will find a fresh perspective and truly innovative and comprehensive way of thinking about place and aging.

What if scrapping one flawed policy could bring US cities closer to addressing debilitating housing shortages, stunted growth and innovation, persistent racial and economic segregation, and car-dependent development?   It's time for America to move beyond zoning, argues city planner M. Nolan Gray in Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It. With lively explanations and stories, Gray shows why zoning abolition is a necessary--if not sufficient--condition for building more affordable, vibrant, equitable, and sustainable cities.   The arbitrary lines of zoning maps across the country have come to dictate where Americans may live and work, forcing cities into a pattern of growth that is segregated and sprawling.   The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. Reform is in the air, with cities and states across the country critically reevaluating zoning. In cities as diverse as Minneapolis, Fayetteville, and Hartford, the key pillars of zoning are under fire, with apartment bans being scrapped, minimum lot sizes dropping, and off-street parking requirements disappearing altogether. Some American cities--including Houston, America's fourth-largest city--already make land-use planning work without zoning.   In Arbitrary Lines, Gray lays the groundwork for this ambitious cause by clearing up common confusions and myths about how American cities regulate growth and examining the major contemporary critiques of zoning. Gray sets out some of the efforts currently underway to reform zoning and charts how land-use regulation might work in the post-zoning American city.   Despite mounting interest, no single book has pulled these threads together for a popular audience. In Arbitrary Lines, Gray fills this gap by showing how zoning has failed to address even our most basic concerns about urban growth over the past century, and how we can think about a new way of planning a more affordable, prosperous, equitable, and sustainable American city.  

For most, "conservation" conjures the notion of minimizing human presence on wildlands to avoid harmful impacts. But too often, this defensive approach has pitted local communities against conservationists, wasting opportunities for collaboration and setting the stage for ongoing conflict. One conservation approach turns that paradigm on its head, and instead connects conservation with the well-being of human communities, setting both up for success. Called "Full Nature," this approach--pioneered by conservationist Ignacio Jiménez--seeks to promote fully functional natural landscapes that are tied to the basic needs of the communities in their midst. They become a self-sustaining cycle, where nature and people are integrated ecologically, socially, and politically. Effective Conservation is based on Jiménez's experience managing conservation projects on three continents over thirty years. Jiménez offers a pragmatic approach to conservation that puts the focus on working with people--neighbors, governments, politicians, businesses, media--to ensure they have a long-term stake in protecting and restoring parks and wildlife. Jiménez guides readers through the practical considerations of designing, analyzing, and managing effective conservation programs. Chapters explore intelligence gathering, communication, planning, conflict management, and evaluation techniques, and include numerous text boxes showcasing examples of successful conservation projects from all continents. A companion website (islandpress.org/effective-conservation) includes additional case studies, expanded texts, and links to additional resources. This highly readable manual, newly translated into English after successful Spanish and Portuguese editions, provides a groundbreaking and time-proven formula for successful conservation projects around the world that bring together parks, people, and nature.  

"Seventy years of a car-only approach--not car-centric, it's car-only--is actually not just non-driver hostile, it's driver hostile. No one benefits." --Beth Osborne, Director, Transportation for America The car-only approach in transportation planning and engineering has led to the construction of roadways that have torn apart and devalued communities, especially Black and Brown communities.  Forging a new path to repair this damage requires a community solutions-based approach to planning, designing, and building our roadways. When Lynn Peterson began working as a transportation engineer, she was taught to evaluate roadway projects based only on metrics related to driver safety, allowable speed for the highest number of cars, project schedule, and budget. Involving the community and collaborating with peers were never part of the discussion. Today, Peterson is a recognized leader in transportation planning and engineering, known for her approach that is rooted in racial equity, guided by a process of community engagement, and includes collaboration with other professionals. In Roadways for People, Lynn Peterson draws from her personal experience and interviews with leaders in the field to showcase new possibilities within transportation engineering and planning. She incorporated a community-solutions based approach in her work at Metro, TriMet, and while running the Washington State Department of Transportation, where she played an instrumental role in the largest transportation bill in that state's history. The community solutions-based approach moves away from the narrow standards of traditional transportation design and focuses instead on a process that involves consistent feedback, learning loops, and meaningful and regular community engagement. This approach seeks to address the transportation needs of the most historically marginalized members of the community. Roadways for People is written to empower professionals and policymakers to create transportation solutions that serve people rather than cars. Examples across the U.S.--from Portland, Oregon to Baltimore, Maryland--show what is possible with a community-centered approach. As traditional highway expansions are put on pause around the country, professionals and policymakers have an opportunity to move forward with a better approach. Peterson shows them how.