What community developers do or what goes under the guise of community development does not universally represent good, but must be considered in the context of community values and goals. Community development is clearly a value laden concept and thus the need to clarify values and vision are important dimensions. Yet, the application of group process, visioning, and value clarification skills by themselves are only necessary, but not sufficient for community development.
Growth is simply replication or more of the same, e.g., jobs, income, houses, businesses.
Development is distinguished by its attention to the distribution aspects of growth, e.g., housing, jobs, income, for whom, and the interface of growth with other dimensions of community, e.g., land use, water quality. University of Wisconsin-Extension, Center for Community Economic Development, all rights reserved.