The authors[1] consider two broad models for community development: the “Need-Driven Provisions from External Sources” model (ND for short) and the “Capacity-Driven Provisions from Internal Sources” model (CD) for short
They present the standard “welfare” argument against ND:
Communities supported externally become dependent on external sources, undermining a communities capacity to become self-sustaining. The authors refer to neighborhoods that fall into this category “Client Neighborhoods”.
And an argument for CD:
Communities that recognize their internal resources become self-sustaining communities.
The signature feature of comparison between ND and CD is the focus of the surveys: needs vs. assets. This difference is stark and shows these models to be mutually exclusive: there is no “needs & capacity” model available because the starting points are so distinctive.
The conflict between CD and ND also elucidates, I argue, a problem with CD, that assets are difficult to realize because of needs. So, attempting to stimulate a community’s assets comes at the expense of alleviating their needs. For instance, an inner city Grandmother owns a plot of land behind her house that is ripe for development. However, in order to protect her home from theft, a common occurrence in her neighborhood, she owns a pit-bull, an animal which needs the space made available by this plot of land. So, her developmental assets cannot be used until policing of the neighborhood provides adequate protection. Thus, to generalize this Grandmother’s plight, in any model of community development, meeting needs will be a pre-condition for developing assets.
In sum, the models CD and ND present a paradox: in order to stimulate commodity use of a community, that community must have some needs met, but a consequence of meeting needs is that it undermines a community’s capacity for self-sustenance. This suggests that there is a “needs & capacity” model. What might that look like?
[1] "Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets," by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight.
