Building community capacity - A definitional framework and case studies from a comprehensive community initiative

The notion of community capacity building is both explicit and pervasive in the rhetoric, missions, and activities of a broad range of contemporary community development efforts. However, there is limited clarity about the meaning of capacity and capacity building at the neighborhood level. The author suggests a definitional framework for understanding and promoting community capacity, explores the attempt to operationalize a capacity-building agenda through the examination of two contrasting case studies within a multisite comprehensive community initiative (CCI), and suggests some possible next steps toward building community capacity through social change efforts such as CCIs.