Civic engagement is a critical function of a democratic society. Citizens have a civic duty to participate in processes- simple and complex- that contribute to a healthy and successful quality of life. Planning provides the necessary structure for citizens to prioritize the issues that need to be addressed by government. Without planning, policies and programs cannot be created and implemented that enhance the quality of life of citizens. The Neighborhood Partnership Center Program and the Neighborhood Resources and Technical Services Corporation were created by the City of South Bend, Indiana as opportunities for residents to affect change in neighborhoods. This study examined the theory and practice of civic engagement and planning, and then applied them to the NPC Program and NRTSC in the Rum Village Neighborhood in South Bend, Indiana to determine if they were models for fostering civic engagement. The selected criteria were inconclusive in proving the NPC Program and NRTSC fostered the degree of civic engagement activity that the City of South Bend intended the programs to produce. / Department of Urban Planning

This thesis looked into the background of downtown revitalization, historical cF3.ta about the decline of the downtown area, methods and models to reverse the decline and possible alternatives to the downtown as a center for retail trade.The thesis compared this finding to two Indiana cities' individual problems with downtown revitalization, the relationship of their solutions to the models, how their decision making influenced their moves and how successful they were with their solutions. / Department of Urban Planning