ABSTRACT
A renewed interest in participatory development which gained momentum in the 1990s through a long trajectory of changes both in the development theories and practices has placed empowerment and the promotion of a liberal form of citizenship at the centre of the intended development outcome. This new form of participation calls for a reconfiguration of power relationships. At the operational level, this new form of participation has been adopted through a new type of community-based development approach called community-driven development (CDD). Since the mid-1990s this approach has emerged as one of the faster growing investments by NGOs, aid organisations and multilateral developments banks. Its promoters claim that CDD is an approach which confers upon community groups better control over planning, decisions and investment resources for local development projects and thus enriches social capital and strengthens the accountability of all actors in local development. Against this backdrop, the chapter focuses on an urban-based community-driven development initiative in Bangladesh to explore the ground-level realities and the project’s contributions to community participation and empowerment with an urge to make practical links between the theories and practices of participatory development.
