Community asset building in rural development : an analysis of military-base redevelopment in rural host communities

This dissertation is about opportunities in rural development. Often we think of development as a function of location. In the pursuit of economic development, analysts and practitioners tend to consider the advantages--economic, geographic, and institutional--of one location over another. Rural areas often weigh in toward the bottom of such analyses because they enjoy few of the traditional, i.e., location-dependent, resources for development. The general question underlying this dissertation is: How do rural communities find opportunities for economic development without the traditional resources to serve as stimuli? Local responses to air force bases closures during the 1990s are examined, first, through a comparative analysis between the groups of six rural and 26 metropolitan host communities of closed bases and, second, through case studies of four host communities--three rural and one metropolitan. Principle findings included:

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Stanley, Lois A., 1961-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Karen R. Polenske.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8518

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8518