Synopsis:

For communities in need of revitalization (or even stabilization), there are a number of elements that must be dealt with: funding, politics, organizing. Communities may need social, environmental, or economic restructuring and Storm Cunningham looks at what’s necessary to achieve it even with the challenging elements. It begins with a paradigm shift. Civilization has worked on a “dewealth” platform – development of land, depletion of resources, despoilment of air, water and soil. We must (and have started to) shift to a “rewealth” mindset – renewing existing assets: infrastructure renewal/replacement; brownfields remediation; historic structure renovation; the renewal of schools, health services, commerce, security, and other public services; plus the restoration of ecosystems, fisheries, watersheds, and agricultural lands. Redevelopment can be the dominant mode of wealth creation and stabilization as well as increasing our quality of life. “Smart growth has emerged as a way of collecting best practices that take a more integrated approach to creating and renewing community assets.”