Community Design Today: From the Inside Out

Abstract

What do community designers do? What do community designers consider the social benefits of their work? What do they consider to be the roots of community design? What personality traits and skills are important for community designers to possess? These questions were asked of community designers around the country. Their answers indicated that community designers have a unified vision of their work. They see their work rooted in a common core of disciplines from design to social work and environmental psychology. Their design work focuses on similar kinds of projects from communal housing to neighborhoods. Their clients are often the poor and less powerful members of society. The community designers surveyed share a set of beliefs about the societal benefits of their work. And they largely agree about the personality traits and skills necessary to be successful at community design.