A team of urban planning students in the UGA’s College of Environment and Design’s Ideas of Community course at address issues in Gwinnett County study area for Georgia Initiative for a Community Housing projects. The team’s vision for the study area involves enhancing life in Gwinnett County by providing needed resources through the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) method. ABCD is a planning method that uses asset mapping to ensure a community is building on their existing strengths to promote sustainable development. The ABCD method includes seven capital assets: Human, Physical, Environmental, Cultural, Social, Political, and Financial Capital. The building of Human Capital involves workforce development; Physical Capital’s focuses on physical features, such as the conditions of housing and infrastructure; Environmental Capital studies the natural features of the area, like greenspaces and waterways; Cultural and Social Capitals explore how people live, work, and play in their environment; and finally, the Political and Financial Capital Assets are key to political and financial accountability to the community. The seven asset groups are woven together to address issues including local economic development, political empowerment, service provision, real estate development, comprehensive planning, and job training.
