Bedhampton Community Centre, Hampshire, U. K.

Community centres or community centers are public locations where members of a community may gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. In biological terms a community is a group of interacting Organisms sharing an environment. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within the greater community. Examples of community centres for specific groups include: Lesbian and Gay community centres, Christian community centres, Islamic community centres, Jewish community centres, Youth clubs etc. A lesbian is a Woman who is romantically or sexually attracted only to other women In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ A youth club is a place where young people can meet and enjoy activities such as Fooseball, Table tennis, or Video games, and are frequently sponsored by

Schools as social centers

Early forms of community centres in the United States were based in schools providing facilities to inner city communities out of school hours. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A school (from Greek σχολεῖον - scholeion) is an Institution designed to allow and encourage Students (or "pupils" The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis An early celebrated example of this is to be found in Rochester, New York from 1907. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Edward J. Ward, a Presbyterian minister, joined the Extension Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, organising the Wisconsin Bureau of Civic and Social Development. Presbyterianism is a family of Christian denominations within the Reformed branch of Protestant Western Christianity By 1911 they organised a country-wide conference on schools as social centres. Despite concerns expressed by politicians and public officials that they might provide a focus for alternative political and social activity, the idea was successful. In 1916, with the foundation of the National Community Center Association, the term Community Center was generally used in the US. By 1918 there were community centres in 107 US cities, and in 240 cities by 1924. By 1930 there were nearly 500 centers with more than four million people regularly attending. The first of these was Public School 63, located in the Lower East Side. The Lower East Side is a Neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Clinton Childs, one of the organisers, described it as

"A Community organized about some center for its own political and social welfare and expression; to peer into its own mind and life, to discover its own social needs and then to meet them, whether they concern the political field, the field of health, of recreation, of education, or of industry; such community organization is necessary if democratic society is to succeed and endure".

Grassroots functions

Another pioneer of community centres was Mary Parker Follett, who saw community centres as playing a major part in her concept of community development and democracy seen through individuals organising themselves into neighbourhood groups, and attending to people's needs, desires and aspirations. Mary Parker Follett (1868&ndash1933 was an American Social worker, Consultant, and author of books on Democracy, Human relations, and Community development, informally called Community building, is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders activists involved Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system

There are also community centres for a specific purpose, but serving the whole community, such as an arts centre. An art center or arts centre is distinct from an Art gallery or Art museum.

Some community centres are squatted, sometimes rented buildings, mostly in Europe, which have been made into organizing centers for community activities, support networks, and institutional initiatives such as free kitchens, free shops, public computer labs, graffiti murals, free housing for activists and travellers, recreation, public meetings, legal collectives, and spaces for dances, performances and art exhibitions. Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or Building that the squatter does not own rent or otherwise have permission to use In biological terms a community is a group of interacting Organisms sharing an environment. Give-away shops, freeshops, or free stores are second-hand stores where all goods are free A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. Graffiti (singular graffito; the plural is used as a Mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched scrawled painted or marked in any manner on property A mural is a Painting on a wall ceiling or other large permanent surface Public housing is a form of Housing tenure in which the property is owned by a Government authority which may be central or local Activism, in a general sense can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Those in a more established setting may be directly connected with a library, swimming pool, gymnasium, or other public facility. A library is a collection of information sources resources and services and the structure in which it is housed it is organized for use and maintained by a public body an institution A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is an artificially enclosed Body of water intended for Swimming or The word γυμνάσιον (gymnasion was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual Education of young men (see Gymnasium

Community centers have various relationships toward the state and governmental institutions. Within the history of a given institution they may move from a quasi-legal or even illegal existence, to a more regularised situation.

In Italy, from the 1970s, large factories and even abandoned military barracks have been "appropriated" for use as community centres, known as Centri Sociali, often translated as social centres. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Social Centers are Community spaces They are buildings which are used for a range of disparate activities which can be linked only by virtue of being Not-for-profit There are today dozens of these across Italy. The historic relationship between the Italian social centers and the Autonomia movement (specifically Lotta Continua) has been described briefly in Storming Heaven, Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomous Marxism, by Steve Wright. Autonomism refers to a set of Left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. Lotta Continua was a Far left Political party in Italy, involved in the Autonomism movement Autonomism refers to a set of Left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement.

Social Centers in Italy continue to be centers of political and social dissent. Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or Opposition to an Idea (eg Notably the Tute Bianche and Ya Basta Association developed directly out of the social center movement, and many social forums take place in social centers. Tute Bianche was a militant Italian social movement active from 1994 to 2001 The Ya Basta Association was a loose network of Italian Anti-capitalist and pro-immigrants rights organizations and groups fueled by the Italian Social center The World Social Forum (WSF is an annual meeting held by members of the Anti-globalization (using the term Globalization in a Doctrinal sense not

In the United Kingdom there is an active Social Centre Network, which aims to link up "up the growing number of autonomous spaces to share resources, ideas and information". This network draws a very clear distinction between the many autonomous social centres around the country and the state or large NGO sponsored community centres.

Community centers online are defined as a web based interactive, user-submitted network for groups, organizations, or businesses. Users create their own personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, art, calendars, music and videos to display on their own pages. Administrators provide oversight to the content and approve membership of users. Developed by Optimal Process Inc. in Memphis Tennessee in 2007.

Urban planning

In Singapore, community centres are distinct buildings that are officially designated by the government of Singapore. Singapore The Government of Singapore is formed by the Political party which gains a simple majority in the general Elections held in Singapore at least once every They are meant to play an urban planning role especially as part of Housing Development Board projects. Urban planning in Singapore has formulated and guided its physical development from the day the modern City-state was founded in 1819 as a British The Housing and Development Board ( Abbreviation: HDB; Simplified Chinese: 建屋发展局 Malay: Lembaga Pembangunan dan Perumahan Enrichment and grassroots organisation are their functions like most other community centres, but relieving traffic congestion concerns by placing community centres nearby is also another reason.

See also

• Squatter - More information on squatting and a list of some famous squats

• Autonomia

External links

• Selfmanaged Social Centers
• Social Centers, Community Spaces, and Squats From "Italy's Cultural Underground" by Adam Bregman
• Social Centre Network (UK)