Community development as an element in area and regional socio-economic growth and development: with special reference to the Community Development Program of Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

"Community development" has been a subject of many different and varying interpretations. Peoplefrom many lands and of many disciplines have given a multitude of meanings to what "communitydevelopment" is all about.Students of "community development" seem to focus on the importance of development efforts in the"human" or "social" factor, while students of "regional development", seem to be emphasizing in thiseffort the "economic" factor.A number of investigators have been trying lately to bring about a synthesis of the "social" and"economic" factors in development, thus establishing a socio-economic synthesis approach.The purpose of this study is to contribute towards this socio-economic synthesis. The contention of theinvestigator is that "community development" should become an important element in area andregional socio-economic growth and development. In other words, in development efforts, we shouldtry to merge and integrate whatever knowledge exists today of the two subjects.In order for the study to be meaningful and useful, an interplay of empiricism and theory has beenemployed. The empiricism is embodied in a study of the community development program ofThessaloniki, Greece. The theory was drawn from the existing literature on the subject.The study revealed, on one hand, what can really be accomplished through "community development",and on the other hand, it demonstrated what cannot be accomplished. It was at this point that the study indicated the importance of "regional development" in tackling problems that "communitydevelopment" could not solve.The study ends with the following recommendations aiming towards the integration of community andregional development in the nomos of Thessaloniki, Greece, Identify the boundaries of communities,areas and regions Determine the economic growth potentials of communities, areas and regions.Determine the levels of authority in formulating policies. Establish short and long-run goals andobjectives.Determine the methods by which the policies will be implemented. Enumerate the methods by whichthe policies will be implemented. Establish criteria for evaluation.Formulate a strategy of action.