Creating community capacity in urban and rural communities

In recent years, as Australian governments at all levels have rediscovered community, a range of policy and program initiatives has emerged aimed at strengthening communities by building local community capacities. We argue that while these new initiatives build some forms of community capacity, they do not help to create the other forms of social capital required by communities to respond to rapid social and economic change upon them. Furthermore, the ‘one size fits all’ approach to community capacity creation fails to recognise geographical diversity, especially differences in capacity building processes and community building needs of urban and rural communities.The localised approach underpinning contemporary community capacity building initiatives is based on two assumptions. These are, firstly, that disadvantaged or ‘high need’ communities lack certain capacities, particularly strong local community ties, and, secondly, that the development of these ties will enhance community well-being. Drawing on our research in four geographically distinct communities, we will critically analyse these two assumptions to argue that:• Geographical location mediates people’s participation in, and use of local community networks.• Further focus on local community networks may be unhelpful, and even damaging, to strengthening community capacities.In this paper we will argue for greater sensitivity to geographical context, particularly urban and rural differences in promoting community capacity building initiatives.© Australian Council of Social Service, 2004