Community

Community can be considered as the relationships between people and place which bind them as a collective.
The word community comes from the Latin “communitas”, where ”com” means with or together while “munus” means gift. Colloquially this would still be extremely close to our understanding of the word. “Community” is not something that can be objectified, it is not something in its self physical, it is experienced.
There are many factors which are simultaneously required for “community” to develop. Community is something which is experienced as a collective, with shared endeavour.
With close proximity and the fundamental structures required in place (propinquity) there is greater potentiality for the formation of enduring communities. Communities are referred to ordinarily as small numbers of people living in close proximity to each other however with the advent of technology there has been greater atomisation of communities. We can refer to the national and international communities, now even the internet community where people from all walks of life and from all over the world can come together in forums and groups.

While there are many scales and forms of community, it is shared values of people and successful facilitating structures which are integral in the continuation of communities.

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