Welfare Reform on the Web (September 2003): Community Regeneration and Development - Overseas

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWI: EXPERIENCES AT THE GRASSROOTS

P. Kishindo

Development in Practice, vol.13, 2003, p.380-387

Case studies presented show that community development in Malawi is essentially a rural phenomenon. It has been used by the government to improve rural living conditions through the creation of a social service infrastructure. The participation of villagers in community projects depends on:

• the perceived benefits to the individual and his or her family;
• the probability that the desired goal will be achieved through collective effort;
• the extent to which social pressures and coercion by village elders are brought to bear on laggards.

REGENERATION AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: THE CHICAGO EMPOWERMENT ZONE

J. McCarthy

City, vol.7, 2003, p.95-105

The US federal Empowerment Zone initiative has been in operation since 1994 and is designed to facilitate regeneration through economic development combined with community involvement. In the Chicago Empowerment Zone, community involvement in initial strategy development was high, but this inclusive approach was not carried forward to the implementation phase. This failure was due in part to the City's determination to keep control of key aspects of political and institutional infrastructure, and to historic divisions between the community groups themselves.