To a Robert Moses fan, the difference between “community” and “neighborhood” has very real implications politically, economically, socially, and so on.

However, an important characteristic of urban planning that is often overlooked is psychology. Thus, community organizers have sought to remedy the problem using psychology, whether consciously or not. According to DeFilippis, community “fulfills a range of human desires from shelter and nurturance, through safety at home and in one’s daily rounds, to historically rooted, politically, and ecologically defined space in which individuals, households, and groups contest and cooperate with each other to make life possible.” This conception of the ideal community evokes images of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is an iconic symbol of human development theory. Respect of others cannot be achieved until a sense of safety (of property and of resources) is achieved. If people feel that their living situations are prone to being uprooted by city planners at any given moment, community cannot exist. Change cannot take place in communities unless special attention is paid to the needs of individuals.

Dr. Mindy Fullilove’s book Root Shock provides important insight on community-building. Coming from the field of clinical psychiatry, a field which focuses on individuals, Fullilove’s insights paint a micro view of community. More than just a conglomeration of consumer units in close proximity to one another, as DeRienzo’s definition of ‘neighborhood’ holds, communities are built out of the interaction of similar and different experiences, and the co-creation of an “emotional ecosystem”.  Community development is aided when a collective memory, through social and economic exchanges, create a sense of belonging in a neighborhood. This is often compromised by rezoning and urban development initiatives.