: What is Economic Development
Overview
This module/week will present the foundations of economic development and explain its vital importance. Communities in rural, suburban, and urban areas have differing needs when addressing the challenges of economic development. This module/week will frame the conversation that this course will address in identifying methods and means for local economic development across the span of community needs.
Reading & Study
- Textbook Readings
- Presentation: What is Economic Development
- Presentation: Introduction to Community Economic Development
- Article: A Brief History of Community Economic Development
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Justify the existence of local economic development planning.
- Give examples of the types of assets available to economic developers.
- Explain how national and state policies impact local economic development.
- Identify challenges and opportunities inherent in local economic development.
- Compare and contrast various theories, models, and fads in local economic development
Brief History of Community Economic Development Clay, Roger A, Jr; Jones, Susan R . Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law ;
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ProQuest document link
ABSTRACT
There is no standard definition of community economic development (CED). From theoretical and practical
perspectives, CED has been commonly described as a quintessentially local project, one in which communities
reconstruct dysfunctional markets as a way of reconstituting social relations and building political strength. As
social policy, CED emphasizes local participation in the design and implementation of affordable housing, job
creation, and financing programs. Regardless of its characterizations, the modern CED movement is making
strides to revitalize both urban and rural communities. Significantly, community lawyers and others specializing in
CED have worked in partnership with community organizers and other advocates. The Civil Rights era, from the
1950s to the 1970s, is another important juncture in the CED movement. Community organizations and community
development corporations act as financial intermediaries, providing technical assistance to local entrepreneurs
and developing shopping centers, supermarkets, and other real estate projects. The history of CED is the history of
social movements. FULL TEXT
Introduction: What Is CED?
There is no standard definition of community economic development (CED). It has been described as a strategy
that includes a wide range of economic activities and programs for developing low-income communities such as
affordable housing and small business development
from creation and expansion of neighborhood businesses to larger commercial and retail services – and job
creation, some of which has been accomplished by financing and operating shopping centers, industrial parks,
retail franchises, and other small businesses. CED also includes many other initiatives and services to fight
homelessness, lack of jobs, drug abuse, violence and crime,1 and to provide quality child care and medical care as
well as homeownership opportunities.2
As a concept, economic development emerged in response to tenacious poverty and the need for affordable
housing, good jobs, affordable health care, and other quality-of-life matters needed for human existence. CED is
broader than economic development because it includes community building and the improvement of community
life beyond the purely economic.3
From theoretical and practical perspectives, CED “has been commonly described as a quintessentially local
project, one in which communities reconstruct dysfunctional markets as a way of reconstituting social relations
and building political strength. As social policy, CED emphasizes local participation in the design and
implementation of affordable housing, job creation, and financing programs.”4
Regardless of its characterizations, the modern CED movement is making strides to revitalize both urban and rural
communities. Community development corporations (CDCs) have been reported to be the largest producers of
affordable housing in the United States.5 At the same time, “for a field that performs a significant function in our
society, we do not have much information regarding the important aspects of how it functions.”6 Moreover,
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/218409794?accountid=12085http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/218409794?accountid=12085“[rjecent community development research explains that this lack of empirical knowledge is a by-product of a field
that is more art than science.”7 And, today, the industry is experiencing a number of challenges – a human capital
crisis that limits its organizational capacity; an aging leadership; and pressure on CDCs to expand their reach while
responding to the demands of funders, intermediaries, and neighborhood residents faster than they can respond.
Many industry observers view community organizing as the primary hope for community revitalization
nationwide.8
CED emerged in the 1960s in response to calls by activists in lowincome communities to incorporate local
residents into the process of revitalizing their own communities. Supported primarily by the federal government
and the Ford Foundation, the movement expanded in the 1970s to address further deterioration of urban and rural
communities. The deindustrialization of the 1970s and 1980s intensified public antipoverty and social welfare
efforts, and community organizations became the major vehicles for delivery of housing and job programs in
lowincome communities. The 1990s ushered in the demise of welfare, devolution from federal to state
