What is the relevance of community, given a fast changing society? What types of communities are desirable to be built? Why does community matter to people? Does an emphasis on community mean that privacy and tolerance of differences are sacrificed? This book offers answers to these questions and many more. It concludes that residents in difficult-to-live-in and difficult-to-manage neighborhoods often choose collective solutions to combat communal problems. Community self-help assists to create a sense of civic responsibility in places where cynicism about change is high. DIY Community Action puts forward a challenging framework for community building, makes recommendations for practitioners and policy makers, and uses solid evidence to clarify some familiar, but muddled, debates around community action.