Before presenting my public speaking and media workshop to the Georgia Association of REALTORS' Leadership Training Academy, students heard body language expert Patti A. Wood, Ma, CSP talk about how successful business people use the body language of their clients to gain trust, and then business. She spoke of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a science that studies the language of the mind and how humans connect with others. The thought occurred to me, is it profitable for a builder to 'mirror and match' a community where they conduct business?

A new paper from The Work Foundation, an independent research, advocacy and consultancy organization, has identified 'distinctiveness' -- the discovery of specialisms and characteristics that help cities build and sustain a cohesive identity -- and the potential for gaining competitive advantage with development that is appropriate.

"So far, the devolution of powers to local cities and regions has been marked by too many copy-cat development strategies ... . It may seem a statement of the obvious to say that place-making relies on using points of difference to competitive advantage, but until recently cities have not always had the time or money to establish original strategies which reflect the characteristics of their towns and places, noted Neil Lee, a researcher at The Work Foundation and the report's author. "Distinctiveness works best when the unique history of a location is used to build a compelling proposition."

Builders, in conjunction with local authorities, have both the capacity and the power to seize the potential of distinctiveness and turn it to their unique advantage. The Work Foundation paper identifies three main types of distinctiveness. They are:

• Functional distinctiveness: this relates to forming a distinct functional niche within an urban or economic system. Successful cities have an economic specialism that enable 'knowledge spillovers' between clusters of firms in the same or related fields. But they are not wholly dependent on one industry, jeopardizing the sustainability of a city. Furthermore, the paper argues cities should not be conceived of as independent entities, but instead thought of in terms of how they relate to other towns and cities within the broader spatial economy.

• Physical distinctiveness: this relates to the mix of iconic structures, the unique history and the quality of the built environment. To some extent, cities are dependent on their history and location - they are 'path dependent.' Yet improving the quality of the built environment, mixing attractive buildings and imaginative use of public space, can help make the most of what heritage does exist.

• Intangible distinctiveness: this refers to the image-making activities of cities as they try and foster an identity. The paper notes three key ways of doing this: 1) signature events and sport; 2) image marketing and branding; 3) using the creative and cultural sector to raise a city's profile and suggest a high quality of life. The paper argues that the best pieces of town hall-derived brand-building, which foster a sense of civic pride and identity, are not merely empty rhetoric, but point to an underlying reality.

"Like all strategies, distinctiveness needs careful handling. It is easy for distinctiveness to fall victim to gimmicks or to unrealistic thinking. Yet when it is used as a catalyst for regeneration, and used to fit into wider economic strategies, distinctiveness has the capacity to transform the success of a city," added Lee.

Builders historically have been integral part of a community being able to redefine itself and sustain a higher quality of life. Understanding, and then defining, a community's distinctiveness by "mirror and matching" its look and feel may help builders maintain that hard-earned and deserved status.