Smart Communities : How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking to Build a Brighter Future

Based on the results of more than a decade of research by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, Smart Communities provides directions for strategic decision-making and outlines the key strategies used by thousands of leaders who have worked to create successful communities. Outlining seven "leverage points" for decision-making used by thousands of leaders who have worked to create successful communities, this new Second Edition offers leaders from both the public and private sectors the tools they need to build a civic infrastructure and create a better future for all the community's citizens.

• Second Edition has been thoroughly updated with current knowledge and research
• Covers new developments from current design thinking and strategy literature to innovation and invention in communities
• Advises on how to create community readiness that will help avert problems before they begin
• All case vignettes have been revised to include more detailed information about the process and application of the seven leverage points
• Examples from communities around the country illustrate how these change agents' well-structured decision-making processes can be traced to their effective use of the seven key leverage points

Smart Communities offers hope to those who are striving to improve their communities and addresses vital issues such as poverty, race relations, and children's health and welfare.

SUZANNE W. MORSE, Ph.D., is associate professor of Urban and Environmental Planning in the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia and president of the internationally known Civic Change, Inc. (formerly Pew Partnership for Civic Change). As president of Civic Change, Inc., for 17 years, Morse has become a national expert on civic leadership and engagement. She is a regular keynote speaker both nationally and internationally, and her articles and opinion pieces have appeared in national journals as well as leading newspapers and trade publications. Morse is currently chairman of the board of trustees of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, and former chair of Piedmont Virginia Community College. She has served on state and national boards including Campfire, Inc., LBJ School Advisory Board, University of Texas, LEAD Virginia, and the Montpelier Foundation's Center on the Constitution. She had fellowships at the Center for Organizational & Technological Advancement (COTA) at Virginia Tech (2006–2009), and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (1991).